The Female Psychology PhD Who Time Traveled to the Royal Harem

Chapter 427

"concubine shi, it seems you've done far more than this."

xi que clapped her hands, and two matrons dragged in a familiar face, her head bowed low, emitting a soft, bitter laugh.

"maidservant tong jia, you insisted on seeing our mistress in the palace of exile. now that his majesty is here, if you have any grievances, speak them to him!"

the appearance of tong jia instantly changed concubine shi's expression. her tearful, pitiful face twisted momentarily.

tong jia stared at concubine shi with eyes full of hatred: "shi yanlan, i truly thought you were my closest friend. all these years in the palace, how many times have i helped you? if it weren’t for you, i wouldn’t have been exposed when i was pregnant, and i wouldn’t have fallen victim to that vile consort de. did i ever blame you? why did you have to betray me like this?"

concubine shi's eyes darted around guiltily, refusing to meet tong jia's gaze. "what does this have to do with me? you were the foolish one. what did i do to you? did i tell you to frame the empress? you were the one with a wicked heart. don’t use me as your scapegoat."

tong jia first shed tears: "i might as well have fed my sincerity to a dog. i was naive to think there could be genuine affection in this deep palace. it was indeed my own stupidity."

then, her eyes hardened: "but back then, wasn’t it you who told me that your uncle accidentally discovered the empress's affair with an actor? you even told me not to tell anyone, and that’s how i fell into your trap, didn’t i?"

concubine shi had thought the matter ended with tong jia being exiled to the palace of exile, but she didn’t know that jiang xinyue had secretly sent people to investigate outside the palace.

not long ago, it was discovered that the witnesses had all been bribed by the shi family, who had deliberately sent them to the tong family to frame tong jia.nôv(el)b\\jnn

jiang xinyue immediately had the truth relayed to tong jia, who was struggling to survive in the palace of exile. only then did tong jia realize that her closest friend had deceived her.

"it was... it was you... i..."

"ah!"

the emperor kicked concubine shi aside: "you vile woman! jiang xinyue is kind-hearted and gentle. everyone in the palace praises her. with her managing the harem, i have no worries in the court. what could you possibly have against her?"

though in her heart, she also felt that this damned feudal society had buried too many women’s lives, the system itself was to blame, not the individual.

if this were modern times, no man would dare marry so many wives. society and the law would punish him before any woman could.

but this wasn’t modern times. this was an era where polygamy was legal, a feudal empire ruled by imperial power.

even wealthy commoners could have one wife and two concubines, let alone the emperor.

jiang xinyue wasn’t being hypocritical. even if she wanted the emperor to love only her, she would have to use every trick in the book to make him fall for her. otherwise, she herself would wonder why the emperor should devote himself entirely to her.

all she could say was that she wouldn’t let herself become a bitter, resentful woman. she would do everything in her power to get what she wanted without actively harming others.

if she couldn’t get it, she wouldn’t chase after illusions. she would make the best of what she had and live as comfortably as possible.

"you... you..."

concubine shi took a few steps back, her voice shrill: "you’re not dead?"

"sorry to disappoint, but i won’t die even if you do."

xi que and shuang jiang stepped forward, one on each side, to dress jiang xinyue in her dark phoenix robe.

the aura of someone who ruled the world emanated from her, and concubine shi turned pale with fear, though she still tried to stand her ground: "you... you were faking it all along. you were never poisoned, were you?"

that wasn’t entirely true. she had indeed stood at the gates of the underworld, but realizing she couldn’t go back and with the responsibility of a child tying her to this world, she chose to return.

the emperor had better treat her well, or else...