20demayo Chapter 401
Chapter 401
“even if i fabricated some lies, it is true that the empress and lan xiaolou had an affair. i did not deceive your majesty! your majesty cannot treat me this way. everything i said is true.”
lady ruan sneered, “rambling nonsense! one moment you admit to lying, the next you claim everything is true. who can tell what’s real and what’s false?”
“sigh!”
concubine shi sighed, “your majesty, please calm your anger. sister concubine tong was blinded by jealousy, which led her to make such a mistake. i beg your majesty to show leniency, considering her years of service and her otherwise well-behaved nature in the palace.”
she and concubine tong had always been close, so it would be out of character for her not to plead on her behalf.
“does jealousy justify tarnishing the empress’s reputation?”
“exactly! i’m also jealous of concubine shi’s noble background. should i gather a group of people tomorrow to accuse her of having affairs with musicians or painters?”
“i... i didn’t mean it that way.”
“disrespecting one’s superiors must be severely punished. if everyone in the palace disrespected the empress, wouldn’t chaos ensue?”
consort shu and noble consort ye tag-teamed, nearly pinning concubine shi to the wall with their words.nôv(el)b\\jnn
it was fortunate that consort liang was still recuperating and couldn’t attend, as her sharp tongue was the most unforgiving.
jiang xinyue knew that if she didn’t clarify things today, she would never have another chance.
she stood up and walked over to the emperor, speaking calmly, “i originally didn’t intend to reveal my secret, but since concubine tong has twisted the truth, i must speak up.”
she sighed, “since i was young... i’ve loved singing opera...”
“what?”
as if embarrassed, she blushed and bit her lip, “but i knew that a young lady of noble birth learning to sing opera would be scorned, ridiculed, and seen as a disgrace to the family. back then, i only dared to practice in secret. no one knew until i accidentally met xiaolou at cuili garden...”
that was why she disguised herself as a man, learned the craft, and even helped lan xiaolou pay off his gambling debts. after settling his debts, lan xiaolou returned to his hometown to marry his cousin, but sadly, the young cousin had already passed away.
during this time, jiang xinyue entered the palace through the selection process and lost contact with lan xiaolou.
since entering the palace, jiang xinyue had never touched anything that others considered “unworthy of refinement.”
there was shi ruojun, who dared to slap anyone and aspired to be a female general; meng wanqing, who was well-read and aspired to establish a school for women; zhang xiuzhu, who was skilled in cooking and deeply grateful to jiang xinyue; and zhao xiaonan, who had been sold to the palace officials for cursing her parents’ favoritism toward her brother...
their thoughts were progressive, long freed from the shackles of traditional female virtues.
so what if the empress liked to sing a little?
it wasn’t like she was committing murder or arson. what was the harm?
rumors spread like wildfire, but positive opinions could too.
when most people agreed that there was nothing wrong with the empress, that she was noble and great, the few who were uncertain would follow the crowd.
exactly!
what’s wrong with liking to sing a little?
the scene concubine shi had hoped for, where everyone would gossip about the empress’s alleged affair with lan xiaolou, never materialized.
instead, several people were inspired by jiang xinyue’s courage and boldly shared their own “shameful” talents.
some enjoyed being accountants, some loved sewing clothes to sell, others liked making cosmetics or brewing wine...
in short, these seemingly elegant and demure young ladies each had their own unique interests.
what’s wrong with a hundred flowers blooming?
after the gathering ended, many young ladies saw jiang xinyue as their idol, admiring her for fearlessly pursuing her passions, something they felt they couldn’t do.
concubine shi hadn’t expected jiang xinyue to be so prepared, having learned to sing opera.
not only had she failed to bring her down, but she had also gained a legion of admirers, something even jiang xinyue hadn’t anticipated.
on the way back to kunning palace, xi que tilted her head happily, “that concubine tong is truly ungrateful. we even felt sorry for her before, but she turned around and tried to harm our empress. thankfully, the emperor always believed in our empress’s innocence.”
“did he?”
jiang xinyue leaned on the armrest, her expression unusually serious, “if the emperor truly trusted me completely, he wouldn’t have taken lan xiaolou away.”
then she sighed, “i hope my mother conveyed my message to my father. he’ll know what to do.”