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Chapter 53: Who’s the Victor? (谁是赢家?)

There were many imperial concubines who miscarried in the palace: the empress, Zhaorong Xu, Shurong Ye, and some lower-ranked imperial concubines. Chongyi Zhao wasn’t the first, and would not be the last.

The empress never cared when the imperial concubines miscarried. However, this time, Chongyi Zhao’s miscarriage was not an accident. And she would not treat it as lightly as those of Zhaorong Xu and Shurong Ye.

As the empress pondered, the emperor swept the teacup on the small side table to the ground. Expression dark, he said, “How could she just miscarry out of nowhere? Empress, you’ve been in charge of the state banquet since the very beginning. Did you really not notice anyone scheming? Were you looking forward to Chongyi Zhao losing her child?!”

“Your Majesty, this concubine is innocent.” Now that the empress realized that she had been implicated, she quickly rose to her feet to kneel before the emperor. “This concubine did not notice that anyone was scheming against Chongyi Zhao. It’s this concubine’s fault. This concubine dares not shirk the responsibility. However, why would this concubine wish for Chongyi Zhao’s miscarriage? After all, once the child is born, it would also call this concubine Imperial Mother. It would also be this concubine’s child.”

“Then speak, why did Chongyi Zhao miscarry?” Feng Jin did not allow her to stand, letting the other imperial concubines in the room witness the empress kneeling.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, this concubine already had people investigate the food and the eating utensils of Chongyi Zhao. The food she had eaten tested normal. However, the bowls and plates she used had been tainted with medicinal juices made with boiled Angelicae Sinensis Radix¹, peach kernel², Siberian elm bark³, rice paper plant⁴, root bark of peony trees⁵, and monkshood⁶. Someone had also wiped this medicinal juice on the chair and table she sat on. This concubine has already seized the servants who set up the chairs and tables in the banquet, the servants who cooked the dishes, and the servants who brought the food out. Would Your Majesty send people to interrogate them?” The empress sneered inwardly. She wasn’t the one who acted, but there were many people who could have. This time, it was uncertain who had done this, and they had actually used this state banquet as an opportunity.

“What a good scheme. Our imperial harem truly is peaceful!” Feng Jin eyed the other imperial concubines present with indifference, scaring them witless. Out of reflex, they all lowered their heads, not daring to look at him.

“Enough. Rise, Empress.” The emperor averted his gaze. Snorted coldly. “We will leave the investigation to you. Hopefully, you can give me an explanation. It’s because you, the empress, is incompetent that the imperial harem is this disorderly. If you’re unable to find the culprit, I will let someone else manage the harem.” Then Feng Jin threw his sleeve and entered his inner chamber.

The empress blanched. What kind of empress was an empress that didn’t have true authority? Even though this was the case, the empress forced herself to not tremble. She followed him into the inner chamber.

The remaining imperial concubines shared a look. No one dared to show an indulging of schadenfreude.

Gao Dezhong looked at the back figure of the empress with sympathy. The emperor could no longer tolerate the Zhao family. At present, he found an excuse to embarrass the empress. One would fear that her days in the harem wouldn’t be as grand as in the past.

After he had entered the inner chamber, Feng Jin stopped in his tracks due to the soft and restrained sobs inside. And he approached the bed. The girl who had been bright, beautiful, and lively in the past was now pale. The pillowcase under her face was thoroughly soaked with tears. Seeing such a sight, he fell into a daze. He recalled that Chongyi Zhao never seemed to cry before. Each time he saw her, she would have on a happy and bashful smile, making him feel comfortable with just a glance. Now, Chongyi Zhao was not smiling. Was without energy. It inspired a lot of pity from him.

“Your Majesty, the child is gone. This concubine did not take care of our child well.” The woman lying on the bed grabbed his hand, her pale and soft hand trembling without end. Tepid tears dripped onto the back of his hand. They burned, throwing the hearts of others in chaos.

“Our child is gone. This concubine could not give birth to a child for your honored self. This concubine is useless, is useless.” Her voice was muffled and hoarse, yet made others find her more sorrowful than the sobs had prior.

 Feng Jing reached out with his other hand and pulled her into an embrace. He lightly patted her back. “Beloved concubine, you will have another child. We will definitely have a child together.”

The empress who was following him inside had just caught those words. And her body slightly swayed. Luckily, Heyu helped her regain her balance. As such, no one caught a thing. Back then, when she had miscarried, did the emperor say these words to console her? Had he not said it, or had she forgotten?

Zhuang Laoyan, whom the emperor held in his arms, sobbed with a lot of grief, as if the heaven and earth were about to crumble. However, the empress found this sight offensive to the eyes. She did not feel sad at the slightest for Zhuang Laoyan. Therefore, she was unable to say any consoling words and could only stand at the side in silence, watching as the emperor embraced another woman.

Once Noble Consort Shu and Consort Xian, who came into the room after the empress, saw that the empress was silent, they followed her in standing quietly at the side. As they heard Zhuang Laoyan’s sobs, they inevitably felt a bit of sympathy toward her, a person in a similar situation as them. Today, Chongyi Zhao’s child could not be saved. So when it was their turn to be pregnant, could they protect their own child?

There were no simple women in the imperial harem. All the simple ones had already lost favor or their lives. The remaining women had to fight for the rest of their lives, until the final victor emerged.

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“Imperial physicians, Chongyi Zhao injured her body. Carefully help her recuperate. We hope that in the near future, We could see a healthy Chongyi Zhao.” Feng Jin stroked Zhuang Laoyan’s hair, as if he wanted to soothe her sorrow. “It’s getting late. You are all dismissed.”

“Understood,” said the empress, looking at the side profile of the emperor, face pale. Then she left Xihe Palace with the support of Heyu’s hand. She gazed at the fluttering snowflakes, pausing in her action of boarding her sedan. “Heyu, why does this palace feel it’s especially cold today?”

Heyu parted her lips, but in the end, she did not know what to say.

“Enough. Let’s go.” The empress climbed aboard her sedan. Glanced in back of her at the name plaque of Xihe Palace, slowly closing her eyes.

“Respectfully sending off Your Majesty, the empress,” said the remaining imperial concubines. Once they had watched her leave, Noble Consort Shu’s indifferent gaze fell upon Consort Xian. “Consort Xian is a scrupulous person. You should help the empress look. Those slaves truly are brave, scheming against the descendants of the imperial clan.”

“Such is this concubine’s duty. Word has it that there is someone in Noble Consort Shu’s paternal family who works in the Department of the Palace. As such you should also help the empress in inquiring a little.” Consort Xian looked at Noble Consort Shu with a smile.

Noble Consort Shu snickered in ridicule. “I’m incompetent. Her Majesty the empress manages the imperial harem. How would she need the bit of ability of my paternal family? It’s cold today. This palace should also return and will leave first.”

“Respectfully sending off Noble Consort Shu.” Consort Xian performed a ceremony of paying respects. She watched as Noble Consort Shu’s procession left, then turned around to look at the others. “I also should return. You sisters can do as you please.”

“At this moment, Second Prince is alone in the palace. I should also leave,” said Consort Ning with a smile, who usually didn’t speak. She boarded her sedan and left. In the end, only Consort Rou and Zhaorong Xu remained.

“I’ll also return. This palace also ought to return,” said Consort Rou with a fake smile toward Zhaorong Xu. “The scenery of the snow is pleasant to the eye tonight. Zhaorong Xu is a poetic individual of refined temperament. Admiring the scenery is also a good idea.” Then she slowly boarded her sedan.

Once Consort Rou had left, Zhaorong Xu snorted coldly. Not looking back, she returned to her own residence.

Everyone had already left. The residence grew quiet. Feng Jin helped Zhuang Laoyan lie down. Then helped pull the covers over her. “We know you are grieving. We will definitely find out who did this to give you and… your child justice.”

“Your Majesty, is it because this concubine hoped too much that this concubine could not keep the child?” Zhuang Laoyan’s sorrowful glance fell upon the emperor. “Back when this concubine first entered the palace, this concubine made a wish to Guanyin Pusa⁷

. That if Your Majesty favored me, this concubine would be willing to use the whole life as exchange. If not for this wish, then could my child have been saved?

 “This concubine was too greedy. Too insatiable.” She covered her eyes with one hand, not allowing the emperor to see the pain in them. “This child will definitely hate this concubine. My greed harmed him.”

“We do not believe in the will of heaven and earth, nor do we believe in gods.” Feng Jin took hold of her hand that was hiding her eyes. Stared into them. “In Our opinion, We favor you because it’s you. Not because of the blessing and protection of the gods. If there truly is a god in this world, then there would not be so much suffering in the world. We promise that you will definitely have a child. You and We will definitely have a child.”

Zhuang Laoyan stared at the emperor. All of a sudden, she hugged him tightly, her sobs finally coming out full force. No longer did she restrain her voice. As if she wanted to sob away all her sorrow and pain. And as if a hopeless person found someone who could help them redeem themselves. At the end, she could cry to her heart’s content.

That night, everyone knew that the emperor consoled Chongyi Zhao until the wee hours of the night.

Some people hated the favor the emperor gave to Chongyi Zhao. Others rejoiced that her child was gone. However, no matter what, they were all careful not to be dragged into the water.

Recently, Xihe Palace was especially quiet, although the emperor, empress dowager, and empress bestowed them many things.

Zhuang Laoyan sat in bed playing with a jade ruyi. Watched as Yunxi brought a bowl of medicine into the room. She arched her brows a hint. “What happened in the palace these couple days?”

“Reporting to Master, the other masters were especially careful. The empress summoned many slaves for interrogation. Word has it that they summoned two suspicious slaves. Unfortunately, they have not found the mastermind yet.”

Zhuang Laoyan smiled. “The empress is putting her heart into it this time.”

“How could she not?” Yunxi poured the bowl of medicine into a nearby flowerpot. “His Majesty was very angry at her. He even said that if the empress could not find the mastermind, she no longer needed to manage the harem.”

Zhuang Laoyan arched her brows a little once more. Was the emperor using this situation as an excuse to deal with the empress? She knew that, sooner or later, the emperor would act against the Zhao family. But Zhuang Laoyan never would have imagined the emperor to use this situation.

She knew this emperor wasn’t simple. On the surface, he appeared to care about this child, but underneath he was merely using this as an excuse to go against the empress.

In all likelihood, the emperor already knew she wouldn’t be able to keep this child. As such, this show would occur. As such, Zhuang Laoyan used this matter to gain his favor and remorse. So did the emperor really use this matter to scheme against the empress?

What a pity that the person who wanted to scheme against her child and the emperor never had imagined she wasn’t pregnant in the first case.

Who’s the biggest victor here?

My left eye is in a lot of pain as I type this due to an infection. I considered delaying the release, but loved you guys too much to do so.

I may or may not link the previous chapter to this chapter yet, since it really hurts to look at the screen, and the less I look at it the better. So I might link it in a few days. I am sorry but I don’t think I can finish the foot notes right now.  Too painful. If you guys are really interested, then just check back in in a few days. They should be up by then.

Edit 6/16/20: My eye is doing a lot better, so I’ll be adding the footnotes and links now. Thank you all for the support and the kind wishes (:

Chapter Supplement:

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