Chapter 96: No Different From Treason
Consort and concubine are not equal. Consort is for a higher ranking position, usually denoted by “fei” whereas concubine is lower-ranking and denoted by “pin”. Collectively speaking, they are all concubines.
The Empress’s heart ached. Back when herbeauty was at its peak, she still fell short of De Fei, much less now, havingbecome a wilted flower butterflies no longer visited.
If she died, Xian Fei did not have ason, but De Fei gave birth to the favored Qi Huangzi, so she could becomeEmpress, and someone else will become Taizi. Both mother and son clearly wantedher to return to the heavens sooner than later!
The thought greatly upset her, makingher furious. As if immediately recovering her strength, she stopped breathingheavily and straightened up. She coldly demanded: “Tell me then, who gave youthe courage to wear a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin!”
De Fei lived in the palace for manyyears and was familiar with the Empress’s temper. She kowtowed and pleaded:“How could chen qie dare to wear a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin? This is a giftchen qie received from Bixia this morning, obviously only eight tails…”
Xian Fei remained in a low bow, afraidto speak up. She was not apathetic and haughty anymore. De Fei dared to wearthe nine-tailed phoenix hairpin reserved for the Empress, which was forbidden.
If the Empress was open-minded, shewould laugh and dismiss it, but now the Empress was gravely ill and despisedthose who dreamt of her position, now… It seems Xian Fei herself had also beeninvolved with unimaginable consequences!
The Empress heard De Fei’s explanationand felt even angrier. She sneered, her lips curling back as if cracking asmile. Not waiting for De Fei to finish, she cut in: “By saying this, the oneto blame is the Emperor? Bixia wanted you to become Empress?!”
De Fei wanted to kill someone. She wascertain Li Wei Yang had done something to it. The hairpin was made of highquality, soft gold. Li Wei Yang must have split one of the tails of the hairpininto two when no one was paying attention!
She hesitated, aware that she had noevidence. If she told the Empress, not only would the Empress not believe herbut would also punish her for making a false accusation. Li Wei Yang did nothave a reason to tamper with the hairpin. She was not a concubine, so why wouldshe harm De Fei?! Even if she begrudged De Fei for accusing her of theft, howcould she retaliate immediately! Not even De Fei would believe this absurdity!Not to mention, this managed to strike a very sore spot for the Empress—
Before De Fei could answer, a nu guan byher side Xin er quickly responded: “Empress niang niang, Nubi’s niang niang’shairpin has been lost before. Someone must have tampered with it! Empress niangniang, please don’t misunderstand niang niang!”
De Fei’s heart sank. Damn that naiveYatou!
Sure enough, the Empress scoffed:“Someone tampered with it? There are dozens of palace maids present, but amongthem, who could force De Fei to wear the hairpin! This is a sign of disrespectfrom her. You are a Yatou by De Fei’s side and hope to help Zhuzi push theblame onto someone else. Unforgivable!”
Her eyebrows rose as she ordered: “Dragthis impudent servant out and beat her to death! Better than to keep troublingothers!”
Xin er could not believe her ears and looked to De Feiin panic. De Fei only gave her a disapproving stare, which made her heart sank.How could that be? De Fei had always been favored, and the Empress alsorespected De Fei on some level, why was she so furious now… Xin er could notbelieve it.
Li Wei Yang smiled wryly. What the Empress hated themost was someone dreaming of her position. De Fei had Qi Huangzi, so all that'sleft was for the fuse to be lit. She gave the Empress a good reason and knewhow the Empress would deal with De Fei!
Heeding the Empress’s order, the eunuchs steppedforward and a while later, Xin er had been beaten countless times. Jiu Gongzhuwanted to speak up but did not dare. The Empress looked like she wanted to killsomeone, so she tried to advise her: “Muhou…”
“Silence!” She barely said anything when the Empresscut her off like a clap of thunder. Terrified, Jiu Gongzhu fell silent. Whileshe hesitated, Xin er had been beaten to death, heavily bleeding. Xin er was apalace maid from De Fei’s dowry and accompanied her for many years. To saythere were no emotional ties would be a lie. Xin er and Lan er were De Fei’smost capable aids and both were suddenly lost in one day.
De Fei was terrified, feeling as if she had beenplunged into cold water and nauseous at the same time. She did not dare to lookat Xin er’s bleeding corpse and raw flesh.
Jiu Gongzhu only stared at the Empress in disbelief.The Empress who was always gentle, calm, generous, and kind-hearted was alsojust as cruel and heartless.
Tuoba Zhen coldly looked on with no intention to stepin and help. He knew very well that when one’s position was threatened, anyonewould become cruel and ruthless. What De Fei did unearthed the resentmentburied deep in the Empress’s heart! Whether De Fei was framed or not, no onewould care. The Empress only cared about the result of this action and wantedeveryone to know who stood above all among the six palaces!
He did not feel this was related to Li Wei Yang. Heknew De Fei had harmed her earlier, but he still could not believe that Li WeiYang, a xiao Yatou, could understand the Empress’s hidden sentiments and causeher anger to boil over.
No, he refused to believe it! Last time, Li Wei Yangcould scheme against him because he was careless, how could she understand theaffairs in the palace as if they were in the palm of her hand… Impossible!
The Empress’s expressions steeled, lips curling up.Her eyes widened, taken over by fury and the hatred that slowly spread all overher body, gradually swallowing every last bit of reason. A dreadful colordarkened her face as she felt this was an unforgivable offense!
Xin er rolled to the ground, dead. The four eunuchsstopped, Xin er’s blood visible on their clothes as they solemnly stood andwaited for the Empress’s order. Everyone knew it would be De Fei’s turn!
Jiu Gongzhu felt a sense of fear she never had before,frightened to see the ruthlessness and madness on Muhou’s once gentle face. Shedid not dare to speak up for De Fei and could only hope Qi ge is on his wayover.
The tension in the atmosphere made it that if a silverneedle fell, everyone would hear it. Suddenly, the silence was broken byapproaching footsteps. Li Wei Yang glanced up and saw Qi Huangzi and theEmperor arriving, or rather, Tuoba Yu had invited the Emperor here! Oh, theirony. Li Wei Yang met the Emperor twice in one day, once when facing hisverdict, but this time, it was to sit back and watch two tigresses fight.
The ground was covered with porcelain shards. TuobaYu’s face did not change as he promptly knelt down. The Empress’s face turnedpurple, shaking out of fury. No palace maids were supporting her. Her handtrembled as she pointed at Tuoba Yu and admonished: “You want to plead for yourMufei too?”
Even the Emperor was stunned by her aggressiveness. Hehad never seen her make such a face and indignantly looked at the two consortskneeling on the ground. Concubines will be concubines and could not compare tothe Empress. TheEmpress stayed by his side during his darkest days and played an important rolein his ascension to the throne, so the Empress was not only his official wifebut also an ally and friend! Seeing the Empress so furious, he already decidedthat De Fei and Xian Fei were at fault!
Tuoba Yu calmly knelt near the Empress and said:“Muhou, Mufei’s mistake has angered you. In any case, arguing will becounterproductive and is also harmful for your health. Please sit down, drink acup of tea, and ease your mind. You must not exhaust yourself.”
The Empress scoffed and turned her face away.
The Emperor glanced at De Fei and frowned: “Whathappened? What did you do to anger the Empress?”
A palace maid brought over the hairpin. The Emperorglanced at it and still did not understand. Then he realized that although therules in the palace were strict, if one did not pay special attention, theywould not notice something like this.
The Empress covered her face and wept pitifully:“Bixia, if you want to depose me, you should have said so. Why continue to lookfor physicians and medicine for chen qie? Let chen qie soon return to theHeavens, then you can make someone else Empress!”
Shocked, the Emperor quickly helped her up: “Why areyou saying this, Empress, when did I ever intend to depose you?! This is thehairpin I gave De Fei, is there something wrong with it?” He turned back insurprise and understood, immediately saying: “This hairpin was stolen by apalace maid earlier, perhaps it was tampered with then…”
His suspicions went to Li Wei Yang, but that wasimpossible. How could a fourteen year old child have the mind and courage to dothat! Unless someone intervened in between and borrowed someone’s dagger tokill? He thought so, and his eyes landed on Wu Xian Fei: “Xian Fei, why did youturn a blind eye to De Fei’s wrongdoing?”
Wu Xian Fei panicked, cold sweat running down as shebowed: “Bixia, please calm down. It was not that chen qie ignored this but thatchen qie did not notice.”
The Emperor frowned. The rules in the palace were asfollows: the Empress’s garments consisted of a Wei set, Ju clothes, and DianChai Li set. The Wei set was jewelry in shape of twelve flowers drooping downon both sides of her head and a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin, but De Fei andXian Fei could only wear phoenix hairpins with eight tails.
That phoenix hairpin somehow grew another tail, and DeFei even wore it, was this to test his relationship with the Empress? TheEmpress’s health was not good. De Fei and Xian Fei took turns managing palaceaffairs. Perhaps the two had an ulterior motive and used the phoenix hairpin tosee his reaction. If he wanted to depose her, he would only laugh and let thispass - The Emperor was overly suspicious, so these speculations quicklysurfaced…
De Fei saw Tuoba Yu kneeling and anxiously said:“Empress niang niang, chen qie will take responsibility for this. Please do notbe too angry and involve Qi Huangzi!”
She did not say anything wrong, but her words soundedunpleasant to the Empress. Her face darkened. Disregarding etiquette, sheshouted: “You dare say “involve”? Am I that wicked in your eyes?” She angrilypointed at Zhang De Fei as if she wanted to devour her alive.
Others saw this and rushed to persuade the Empressotherwise, sending the entire Imperial Garden up in an uproar.
The Emperor looked at the Empress and knew it was notgood. The Empress’s usually pale face grew unnaturally pale. He knew thatnormally his wife was calm and reserved but had a lot on her mind. Seeing DeFei and Qi Huangzi, her heart ached and must have led her to overthink. Heloudly said: “Quickly help the Empress sit down and rest!”
Tuoba Zhen had a blank stare, suppressing the relishand cruelty in his eyes. Watching a good show and seeing the results he hopedfor was very satisfying. The Empress, De Fei, Tuoba Yu, and even Wu Xian Feiwho continued to kneel in silence, they all stirred his hatred and resentment.Although Wu Xian Fei was his Muqin in name, but she was domineering and usedhim for her own ends. Now, he felt content to see their horrified faces.
Li Wei Yang stood from afar and saw the relish inTuoba Zhen’s eyes and sneered. The power struggle had soon twisted his mind,and he probably resented not being able to kill them all! Except this situationwas not as good as he thought!
Zhang De Fei soon had sweat falling like rain, herback damp with sweat. Tuoba Yu kept his head bowed, so it was hard to tell whathe was thinking. He did not speak up for De Fei, but his protectiveness wasevident. Li Wei Yang sighed, she did not think about him, but De Fei had stokedthe fire, causing the fire to burn her, so who was there to blame?!
Li Wei Yang’s gaze finally fell on Tuoba Yu who waskneeling, back straight. She wanted to know what he was thinking right now.
At that moment, an eunuch suddenly knelt down:“Responding to Bixia, Empress niang niang, Nucai is responsible for managinginternal affairs. Nucai admits to the crime!”
Li Wei Yang thoughtfully looked to the eunuch.
The Emperor frowned: “Admit to the crime?”
The eunuch Jiang bowed low: “Nucai is in charge ofthose who gave the phoenix hairpin to De Fei niang niang, but the eunuch wasnew to the palace, so the phoenix hairpin for Empress niang niang wasmistakenly given to De Fei niang niang. The phoenix hairpins are almostidentical, except one is nine-tailed and the other eight-tailed. Nucai justlearned of this mistake and came to accept punishment from Bixia and the niangniangs!” He kowtowed, and his head loudly hit the ground.
Tuoba Zhen sneered, so Tuoba Yu had such quick hands!
Li Wei Yang shook her head. She tampered with thehairpin, but this Jiang gonggong said it was mistakenly sent out. How couldgifts from the Emperor be so easily been mistaken? This was to deliver ascapegoat and see if the Emperor and Empress will accept it!
The Emperor coldly told Jiang gonggong: “Go down andaccept a hundred strokes.”
This was to take his life, but Jiang gonggong onlybowed: “Obeying decree.”
Li Wei Yang saw the turn-of-events and had to applaudTuoba Yu for having picked a suitable candidate so quickly and push the blameto the internal palace affairs. The head of internal affairs was an ally ofTaizi, and Taizi being the Empress’s son, gave this act another meaning in theEmperor’s eyes. Taizi could have set Zhang De Fei up by having the wronghairpin sent to her, so the Empress could use this excuse to punish De Fei…
Li Wei Yang sighed. Unfortunately, only a little rainfollowed the clap of thunder.
The Empress’s face changed and turned hostile, but shequickly realized she could not be angry anymore or the Emperor wouldmisunderstand - she gritted her teeth and reluctantly suppressed her resentmentand put on a calm front. She personally went to help Zhang De Fei up to herfeet: “I was overthinking today and misunderstood meimei.”
Although she said this, the look in her eyes was fullof contempt. Zhang De Fei could only pretend not to see it, slightly loweringherself, bowed and in a respectful, emotional voice, said: “Chen qie was wrongfor not inspecting the hairpin at first. Hope niang niang will forgive this.”
The Empress smiled and said: “Alright, alright, it isjust a misunderstanding. Quickly stand up.” She ordered someone to help XianFei up. The Empress held both of their hands, guilt appeared on her face: “Myhealth has not been very good, the same goes for my temper. I hope you twomeimei will generously forgive me.”
The two consorts apologized at once. The Emperorlooked back and forth between the three of them and told Tuoba Yu: “Come, standup now.”
When Tuoba Yu stood up, his knees had gone stiff. He foundthat Li Wei Yang was standing not far away from him. Their eyes met. Her eyeswere dark as the water in a well, pitch black, with a subtle but frighteninghostility. Tuoba Yu lowered his head, not wanting to see her cold and apatheticexpressions.
He suddenly understood everything.
The Emperor personally walked the Empress back to herpalace. Zhang De Fei and Xian Fei suffered from quite the shock and were helpedby palace maids. When De Fei walked past Li Wei Yang, De Fei gave her acomplicated look. It could be said that it was hatred and a pinch of horror,and fear with a hint of resentment. Li Wei Yang bowed, “Seeing niang niangoff.” Her smile was lively but far from kind. De Fei’s entire body went limp,barely able to stand as she leaned against the palace maid. She said nothingand quickly left.
After this incident, the traumatized De Fei would fallseverely ill and be bedridden for three months. Of course, this would come at alater time.
Tuoba Zhen smiled coldly and left with Wu Xian Feiwithout looking back at Li Wei Yang. Tuoba Yu paused and told Jiu Gongzhu:“Jiumei, you should go on ahead. I will lead Xianzhu out of the palace.”
His voice was strangely calm as if he did not knowanything at all, but Jiu Gongzhu was picked up on it. She stared wide-eyed atLi Wei Yang and only saw a cold smile appear on Li Wei Yang’s lips as her eyesremained cold and detached. She did not dare to point it out and only loweredher head and left, but she still occasionally turned and looked back.
Tuoba Yu’s expressions were quite normal, but hiswords came like a bolt of lightning: “Was this your doing?”
Li Wei Yang looked at a peony under the sun andindifferently smiled: “Indeed.”
Tuoba Yu’s expressions froze, his lips twitched as ifhe wanted to say something, but no words came out. Her small smile was like abright, crescent moon. Even though she was smiling, it was a detached smilewithout any remorse.
His proud heart began to stir in agony for whateverreason.
“I’m sorry.” He earnestly said, “I know. Mufei musthave done something to you for you to retaliate.”
Li Wei Yang smiled: “Thank you, Qi Dianxia, forthinking of me.”
Noticing how distant she was with him, Tuoba Yu feltnumb. He said that he would not let De Fei harm Li Wei Yang, and Mufei hadagreed, only to turn around and do as she pleased. Tuoba Yu knew the more heliked Li Wei Yang, the more Mufei will see them as an eyesore. Like she oncesaid, to be a ruler, one must be heartless. Mufei targeted Li Wei Yang, fearingshe will become a threat to him, but she did not know how much he valued Li WeiYang. He closed his eyes and murmured: “Wei Yang.”
Li Wei Yang paused, her gaze drifting over to TuobaYu. A faint gold tinge from the sun shone against his handsome face. Tuoba Yuonly called her name and did not say anything else until she reached thecarriage.
He even lifted the curtain of the carriage up for her:“I said that in the future, I would not make you worry. I thought I couldeasily keep this promise, but now, it seems I was overconfident. However, Iassure you, this will be the last time.”
Li Wei Yang sighed: “One thing leads to another.Things will still be good the next time we meet. If I truly wanted De Fei niangniang’s life, that would mean disregarding our friendship and a friend like Dianxia,so I understand the extent of the situation. I hope De Fei niang niangunderstands as well. I can only forgive her twice but definitely not a third!By that time, do not blame me!”
Li Wei Yang climbed onto the carriage, which traveleddown the long road. She lifted the side curtain to look outside. The wide roadwas especially clean with not even a leaf in sight. There were eunuchscarefully sweeping up in the distance. Combined with the sound of horse hoovesand sweeping of brooms, the ground seemed to rumble below them.
Li Wei Yang frowned as she saw a tall silhouettegalloping towards them from afar. At the last moment, that person pulled thereins and stopped directly in front of Li Wei Yang’s carriage, making the horseneigh loudly. It was unclear if this was an accident or intentional. Hostilityappeared on that person’s young, handsome face under the sunlight.
“Who are you, why are you stopping Xianzhu’scarriage?!” The carriage driver raised his voice. The road was wide enough forfour carriages to pass through at once. What motive did this person have?
The whip in the young man’s hands reared back twice asa cruel smile flashed across his face. The carriage driver saw the horse whipbeing raised and struck his face with a “pa.” He cried out and fell from thecarriage to the ground.
Terrified, Bai Zhi leapt out of the carriage. Li WeiYang shook her head and lifted the curtain. The carriage driver was stillhowling in pain, his hands covering the red marks on both sides of his face.
Bai Zhi trembled, either out of anger or cowering fromfear. Her lips trembled with every word she managed to say: “Impudence! Daringto be disrespectful to Xianzhu!”
The man scoffed. Li Wei Yang looked over in hisdirection. The sun that touched the horizon at the end of road reflected on heryouthful face, making her eyes shine brighter than jade and more like starsthat had fallen into the mortal world.
The man did not turn to look and acknowledge Li WeiYang. With a provocative smile on his face, he asked: “Xianzhu? What’s that?”Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONE /* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 11.0pt; "Arial",sans-serif; color:black; mso-ansi-language:EN;}
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Translator: Chau
Editor: Pending
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