20demayo Chapter 252
Chapter 252
concubine cheng only made those provocative remarks after seeing the imperial noble consort.
she knew full well that noble lady liu was impulsive and hot-tempered, speaking without thinking, and she deliberately timed it so the imperial noble consort would hear her treasonous words.
consort zhang and court lady zheng looked at concubine cheng with surprise in their eyes, but their previous trust and closeness had been replaced with wariness.
as the imperial noble consort had said, not a single slap given to noble lady liu had been wasted.
she was teaching noble lady liu a lesson!
thirty slaps were worth it to see through a hypocrite's true nature - she wouldn't be fooled by her schemes again.
just moments ago, noble lady liu had insulted the imperial noble consort's lowly origins, yet the imperial noble consort still offered guidance despite the offense. the imperial noble consort was truly kindhearted.
noble lady liu's muddled mind had been somewhat cleared by the beating, and she glared at concubine cheng as if she wanted to devour her.
jiang xinyue withdrew her hand, and xi que immediately offered a handkerchief for her mistress to wipe her hands, complaining that concubine cheng's face powder had dirtied her mistress's hands.
"if you want to fight, then openly challenge me instead of always hiding behind noble lady liu and using her to do your dirty work. she may be foolish, but i'm not. you act like an innocent rabbit while being a wolf in sheep's clothing. these tricks you're using are ones i've grown tired of long ago - don't play these games in front of me. if you behave yourself, we can each go our own way without interfering with each other. but if you insist on being despicable before me, i'll make you understand very clearly why i am the imperial noble consort while you're merely a lowly concubine."
the crowd that had gathered departed as dramatically as they had arrived.
jiang xinyue wouldn't let this minor incident affect her enjoyment of the garden.
as women's screams and chaos erupted behind her, she quickly made her escape.
they were all troublemakers - let them fight amongst themselves like dogs.
"cheng nianhe, i'll tear your lying mouth apart, you black-hearted wretch! i took such good care of you back in chuxiu palace, and this is how you repay me? don't hold me back - i'll tear apart anyone who tries to stop me!"
"those thirty slaps - i'll return every single one! you owe me this!"
the crisp sound of slaps and concubine cheng's screams were exactly what jiang xinyue had anticipated.
if concubine cheng wanted to use noble lady liu to harm her, why couldn't she use noble lady liu to make concubine cheng suffer the consequences of her own actions?
but the letter was insistent and mentioned that xie chenghui had secretly kept a portrait of jiang xinyue. he had sent people to search xie chenghui's residence and indeed found a portrait of a woman. though the face wasn't painted, the figure and clothing resembled jiang xinyue.
now, seeing the two standing together in such harmony, the xuanwu emperor felt a surge of anger and inexplicable jealousy.
it felt as if his internal organs were being consumed by flames, wanting to burn everything he saw to ashes.
"this humble servant..."
"silence!"
the xuanwu emperor roared, striding forward with an intimidating gaze fixed on jiang xinyue: "i was asking you - what are you doing here?"
jiang xinyue was startled by his shout. looking behind him, she saw her palace servants who she had left outside had now followed him in, heads bowed, afraid to face the emperor's wrath.
she studied the emperor's expression with slight annoyance: "you don't think..."
"think what?"
consort yu, who shouldn't have been there, arrived with a group of concubines: "think that you're having an affair with artist xie?"
she sneered, throwing the faceless beauty portrait confiscated from xie chenghui's residence at jiang xinyue's feet: "see for yourself. if there wasn't an affair, why would artist xie paint you? your majesty, when i asked artist xie to paint my portrait before, he clearly said he doesn't paint portraits of people. yet now we find the imperial noble consort's portrait in his possession - how do you explain this?"
consort yu, seemingly excited to finally have caught jiang xinyue in wrongdoing, continued eagerly: "the two of you, alone together in this dark place, with your servants left outside - if this isn't a secret rendezvous, what is it? your majesty, please severely punish the imperial noble consort. don't let such improper behavior taint the imperial harem."
"please punish the imperial noble consort severely and cleanse the palace of such misconduct!"
"consort yu speaks as if she was hiding under my bed watching everything."
"with so many witnesses, are you still trying to deny it?"
"deny what?"
jiang xinyue's anger flared up, her eyes blazing as she stared directly at the xuanwu emperor: "did you see us embracing? or kissing? or lying naked together in bed? your majesty, please tell your consort what exactly you saw?"
indeed!
when they had entered, the imperial noble consort and artist xie were standing two people's width apart, appearing to be having a normal conversation.