20demayo Chapter 67
Chapter 67
it was early morning, and the palace maids were busily attending to their masters in their respective palaces, with few people coming this way.
"concubine zhen!"
a young palace maid appeared under the willow tree, respectfully bowing to jiang xinyue: "this servant is from concubine shu's palace. our mistress would like to invite concubine zhen to jingren palace for a chat. would now be convenient?"
jiang xinyue looked at the maid's face, recognizing her as someone she had seen around consort shu before. she recalled that consort shu had mentioned wanting her to visit jingren palace for a chat, but she hadn't gone yet. now they had come to find her.
xi que, supporting shuang jiang, said to jiang xinyue, "my lady, you should go! i'll escort shuang jiang back."
shuang jiang nodded, indicating her agreement.
as a gentle breeze rippled across the lake, there was a splash of someone falling into the water. then, two figures emerged from nearby bushes.
"my lady, they've fallen into the water. should we...?"
consort zhang cast a cold, almost indifferent glance at jiang xinyue struggling in the water, then looked away. "we saw nothing today. do you understand?"
the palace maid was instantly struck silent, feeling a chill run through her body. she lowered her head and followed behind consort zhang, not daring to utter another word.
in yikun palace—
empress zhu was sipping biluochun tea, freshly brewed by the palace's most skilled tea-making maid. the lingering fragrance on her lips and teeth made her eyes close in contentment.
the daily greetings from the concubines made her life tiring. facing a room full of delicate beauties, she had to put on a brave face and deal with them, despite her extreme reluctance.
those women, clever or not, all had their eyes on her position as empress. they were just waiting for her to make a mistake, to drag her down from her pedestal and climb over her fallen body to take her place.
over the years, she had exhausted herself, treading carefully with each step. outsiders only saw her glory, second only to one and above all others, but they didn't see her heartache and suffering.
the tea grew more bitter as she drank, yet it pleased her more.
though bitter tea was astringent in the throat, the more bitter it was, the more fragrant its aftertaste, lingering endlessly.
empress zhu remained calm internally, rising gracefully. "let's go to hexi palace and see."
has the empress dowager made her move so quickly?
"what use are any of you? consort zhen knows how to swim. even if someone pushed her in, she should have been able to save herself. why did you leave her alone by the lake? was someone holding her down underwater? now you claim to know nothing. what use are you to me? you should all be beaten to death!"
"your majesty, please calm your anger!"
as soon as empress zhu entered, she heard the emperor threatening to execute everyone. for the sake of reason and emotion, as the empress, she should step forward and advise against it: "let's not speak of the others, but xi que, shuang jiang, jiang chuan, and xiao xuanzi are consort zhen's most trusted servants. if she wakes up to find these four gone, how sad would she be?"
the xuanwu emperor let out a cold snort, suppressing the anger in his heart. he turned to look at jiang xinyue lying on the bed, her head full of silver needles, and felt a wave of panic and fear.
he didn't know what was happening to him, nor did he have the heart to investigate. he just wanted the woman on the bed, hovering between life and death, to wake up quickly.
xi que secretly raised her head to glance at empress zhu, finding her beautiful face suddenly repulsive.
while appearing to plead for the servants of hexi palace, she was actually inciting hatred against the four of them, and even dragging her mistress into the scheme.
what did she mean by "let's not speak of the others"?
wasn't she clearly telling everyone in hexi palace that apart from the four of them, the lives of others were unimportant? that even if they were beaten to death, consort zhen wouldn't say a word in their defense?
wasn't this sowing discord?
fortunately, she had learned a lot by her mistress's side recently. otherwise, she might have felt grateful for the empress's apparent familiarity in those words!
the xuanwu emperor also knew that while xi que and the others were at fault, their crime didn't warrant death. they had already received twenty lashes each. if he pursued the matter further, there would be no one left to attend to consort zhen's bedside.
shuang jiang was still fine. she had grown up in the palace since childhood, and before coming to serve consort zhen, she was just an unremarkable palace maid. getting beaten was a common occurrence for her.
after receiving twenty strokes, aside from the initial pain, she was completely fine now.
xi que was different. she had grown up alongside jiang xinyue. the most suffering she endured as a child was accompanying her young mistress in hunger and cold. lady zhou wouldn't personally hit people, fearing it would dirty her hands and displease her husband.
so when xi que was beaten this time, her movements became somewhat stiff, and her buttocks stung with waves of burning pain.