Chapter 90 - Part1

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Chapter 90: Praying Mantis stalks the cicada

¹ 9-5 represents the emperor , since in ancient times 9 represented honor ( being the highest odd , or ' yang ', number ) while 5 signified mediation and harmony since it is in the middle amony the ' yang ' numbers . When put together , 9 and 5 signify ' harmonic honor '.

² 掌上明珠 : pearl in the palm : similar meaning to “ apple of someone ’ s eye ”

³ 负荆请罪 : bearing the rod and taking punishment : means to offer a humble apology

Afterward , he suddenly stood up , a sword against the neck of the person entering , Zhuo Er paled : “Your Highness …. your maidservant only forgot to take away the tea tray …”

She has just received Tuoba Zhen ’ s jade pendant , she was too ecstatic , that she forgot to remove the tray. I f she returned , of course, there wa s no way for her to explain this to the house steward . Seeing that Tuoba Zhen had relaxed , Zhuo Er breathed a sigh of relief , Dianxia seemed to like her , therefore he wouldn ’ t do anything to her. However, in the next moment , with a sweep of Tuoba Zhen ’ s hand , her head had fallen off. Her expression still showed shock, making the scene extremely terrifying.

“ Take her away ,” Tuoba Zhen glanced at the bloody floor and felt only disgust .

A reckless woman , actually wanted to compare herself to Li Wei Yang . Li Wei Yang did not attract his attention merely because of her beauty , what he liked wa s her distinctive personality and cleverness; even for her domineering fierceness , there wa s still a distinct flavour to it . In comparison , Zhou Er just has the shape but without her mind nor her personality; she was just like a doll . Tuoba Zhen ’ s gaze landed on the face that had already lost its vitality. She resembled Li Wei Yang , his gaze , like the slow sharpening tip of a sword , gradually developed a sharp edge . Right now he has a strange hatred towards Li Wei Yang . What he hated her most , wa s that she dared to look at other men . He became more conscious of the importance of power . He secretly decided in his heart that when he ascended to the 9-5 ¹ , even if he has to turn the world over , it must be to his satisfaction .

When Li Wei Yang saw Wei Guo Furen , she was sitting in a daze before Gao Min ’ s bed. T hen when she turned around , she can see that her usual dignified , domineering , imposing manner has disappeared completely. Her cheekbones that appeared high seemed gaunt at this time and both cheeks also showed signs of slight sadness . That pair of eyes , that had always made Li Wei Yang feel uncomfortable with the arrogance in her eyes , we re swollen from crying and the chaos in her pupil made it seem even larger . Unsure of whether it wa s due to too much energy being spent on her grief , her hair seemed to have grown more strands of white hair , and matched with her sullen face , it made her entire person seem even more dejected .

Li Wei Yang sighed .

This mother and daughter pair only had themselves to blame. S he had already verified that it was the two of them who sowed discord in front of Concubine Zhang De , which stirred Concubine Zhang De into taking actions to get rid of her . If they did not use such despicable means to harm her , then they wouldn ’ t have fallen to this point .

Gao Min ’ s entire backbone had been broken , even if she is forced to survived , she could only live the rest of her life on a bed for this lifetime. A beautiful future had been ruined like this , for a proud and arrogant Gao Min , it was more unbearable than death .

Sun Yan Jun , who came with Li Wei Yang , pushed her slightly , indicating that she should stand behind her and then following Sun Yan Jun in , she spoke words of consolation : “ Wei Guo Furen , I know that you are very sad over Miss Gao ’ s accident , but you must also cherish your own body !”

Wei Guo Furen was in a trance. H earing her say this she wiped a tear; as if waking up from a dream , she murmured : “ Poor Min Er .” Then suddenly she raised her head , staring fixedly at Li Wei Yang , she said angrily : “ Why are you here !”

In her eyes , Li Wei Yang is the enemy who harmed her daughter , she couldn ’ t wait to pounce and tear her up , but seeing Zhao Yue with her cold expression, as she held her sword behind Li Wei Yang , Wei Guo Furen subconsciously stopped in her pace .

Li Wei Yang said lightly : “ Aunt , restrain your grief .”

Hearing those words , Wei Guo Furen ’ s immediately showed anger and said bitterly : “ Li Wei Yang , if it was not for you wanting to compete with Min Er , how could she has fallen to this point , all of this is because of you …”

Sun Yan Jun looked at Wei Guo Furen with sympathy , in her opinion , this incident really doesn ’ t have much to do with Li Wei Yang , if it wasn ’ t for Gao Min being overly aggressive , Li Wei Yang would not have competed with her , besides , a person getting injured is an accident , just as she was about to say something , Li Wei Yang said gently : “ Miss Sun , I have a few words that I want to speak with A unt alone , would you mind leaving us alone .”

Sun Yan Jun i s a decent and understanding girl , she thought Li Wei Yang wanted to apologize to Wei Guo Furen , therefore she smiled and said : “ Very well , I will go out first , later I will look for you .” Having witnessed the plentiful facades of officials ’ daughters , and being born of military lineage , she greatly admires the frankness , intelligence and courage of Li Wei Yang , and is determined to befriend her .

Finishing , Sun Yan Jun left the tent .

Wei Guo Furen suddenly felt a moment of bleakness , her oldest son wa s dead , her younger son is a good – for – nothing , her daughter is left with only half a life , her husband blamed her for inciting her daughter into always seeking to prevail over others , perhaps at this moment, he even hates her . Her methods of treating the servants are mean even under normal circumstances , aside from her own older sister , there is no one in the family that she can speak to . In this not very cold night , facing Li Wei Yang whose face wa s like water , she suddenly felt a bone piercing chill . Because she truly felt that she has now become a loner .

“ Are you here to laugh at me ?” Seeing Li Wei Yang , Wei Guo Furen ’ s dismal mood felt like frost on snow .

“ Aunt , why would I laugh at you ? Biaojie ( older female cousin ) becoming like this , I am also sad for her .” Not only is Li Wei Yang not sad but she also felt that Gao Min had brought it upon herself , but now , she needed to continue : “ I understand how you are feeling , but there is one thing that I must tell you , the incident that day was not an accident .”

Wei Guo Furen suddenly raised her head , her face changing drastically : “ What did you say !”

Li Wei Yang sighed and said : “ I originally did not want to mention this incident , because saying it would implicate many people , but if I don ’ t say it , I would feel uneasy in my heart .”

“ You hid it and not mention it is because you cannot say it ? Or did you feel that I am incapable , and cannot inquire about this incident ?” Wei Guo Furen could feel something wa s off and stared fixedly at Li Wei Yang ’ s eyes , her gaze gradually sharpening .

Li Wei Yang with an hesitant look , opened her mouth to speak , but still hesitated for a moment : “ I also know that this incident cannot be hidden from you … but if I tell this to you , I ’ m afraid that this will affect your relationship with Concubine Zhang De … since it caused this kind of consequences , even if I die , I cannot atone for that sin … but if I don ’ t tell you , I am also afraid that you will be kept in the dark forever …”

Hearing this , Wei Guo Furen ’ s face suddenly changed , her voice also trembling , grasping the armrest of the sandalwood chair as if she wanted to stand up , her sleeve gliding across the tabletop , viciously bringing down the teacups : “ What did you say ? Have something to do with Concubine Zhang De ? What are you …. trying to say ?”

Li Wei Yang sighed and said : “Palace affairs are complicated , Concubine Zhang De seems kind and generous on the surface , but in reality she is a narrow – minded person ! I heard that you have constantly said bad things about me before her , therefore I was afraid , I asked Seventh Prince to explain on my behalf , but Seventh Prince came back only to tell me , Concubine Zhang De felt that you are trying to sow discords into their mother and son relationship , and thus becoming angry with your actions . Aunt , you do know , Jiang Guo Gong Residence ’ s Er Jiujiu has an illegitimate daughter that has entered the Crown Prince ’ s residence to become a Ce Fei ( side consort ) , Concubine Zhang De has easily connected other thoughts , she felt that there wa s collusion between Jiang Guo Gong Residence and Bo Chang Hou Residence , while you meant well , t o her , it appeared you were trying to drive a wedge , therefore she was prepared to give us a lesson ! That day … just happened to be Biaojie ’ s bad luck !”

“ What did you say !” This remark wa s just like a thundershock that shook apart Wei Guo Furen ’ s soul . She wanted to staggered up , her body raising halfway before falling back down to the chair , her face paling even more , her eyes dulling , shaking nonstop all over , that look as if her soul had suddenly drained away .

These words we re originally full of loopholes , but Li Wei Yang knew , saying these words right now , Wei Guo Furen would definitely believe it , and what more , she will trust it completely . She continued on : “Aunt can not believe me , but I hope that you will send someone to investigate that Zuo Yuan ’ s background , as the deputy commander of the Imperial Army for many years , outstanding martial arts and excellent archery , how could he miss a shot for no reason , as it happens that he shot in our direction , this is clearly someone using his hands to warn us !”

“ No ! This is not possible !” Wei Guo Furen did not believe Li Wei Yang .

Li Wei Yang smiled and said : “Aunt , no matter how we loathed each other behind closed doors , in the eyes of outsiders , Jiang Guo Residence , Bo Chang Residence , are all one family . Even though you have said a lot of bad things about me in front of Concubine Zhang De and it is not harmonious between us , but the way others see it , we are related by marriage after all , no ? Concubine Zhang De would have feel that you have other intentions to betray me in order to gain her trust , wanting to warn you a bit , is there anything strange about that ?” She paused , then glanced at the unconscious Gao Min and said : “ What more , Gao Biaojie has always been getting close to Third Prince , other people feel that in the future , she will become the imperial consort of the Third Prince , if anything happened to her , naturally it is not a light blow to Third Prince , Third Prince is the Crowned Prince ’ s people … naturally there are a lot of complex relationships in the mist of this , alas , the bottom line is , Biaojie is just a scapegoat .”

Wei Guo Furen sat in her chair as if her soul was lost , her teeth biting her deathly pale lips tightly : “ What are you telling me these !”

Li Wei Yang smiled , she wa s not afraid of Wei Guo Furen checking on this , because this wa s indeed done by Concubine Zhang De . Right now all she wa s doing wa s just telling this fact to Wei Guo Furen , “ Because I am also a victim , that day I was walking the horse with Ninth Princess , then someone used a tamed eagle to scare the horses , I almost died under the horse ’ s hoof. T he culprit behind this not only wanted to kill Biaojie , but also wanted to raise internal fighting amongst us , tell me Yimu , would my hate be any less than yours ?”

“ What raise internal fighting ? I don ’ t understand !” Wei Guo Furen opened her eyes wide .

A layer of regret arose on Li Wei Yang ’ s face : “ The reason why Biaojie raced her horse with me merely stemmed from a girl ’ s desire to excel over others , we do not have any deep – rooted hatred , but in the eyes of other , I have became the culprit who caused Biaojie to be injured . A s a result , Uncle would not say it , but in his heart , there is already a grudge against Father , in the imperial court , our families have always been supporting each other , now if we have a fall out , our power will be weakened. I f at this time , someone exploits the situation , it is not impossible for both families becoming opposing enemies , making it easier to take out the enemies one by one .”

“ Ah …” Wei Guo Furen awakened as if from a dream , now her anger has gradually calmed down , she only sighed deeply , looking dejected as if her entire body is emptied of strength : “ You should go back , go back and do not talk to anyone .”

Li Wei Yang smiled lightly and said : “ Aunt , you should take a rest , I will leave first .”

Wei Guo Furen gritted her teeth , looking at her back , and spat heavily towards the ground , beside Wei Guo Furen , her confidante Liu Mama , said : “ Furen , Xianzhu is trying to sow discord .”

Wei Guo Furen slowly leaned back against the chair , her gaze like dying embers , staring at the top of the tent , holding her hand in a fist forcefully , her nails piercing into flesh : “ She is trying to sow discord , but what she said is a fact , at least in regards to the real person who harmed my daughter , she did not lied . That arrow is definitely arranged by Consort Wu Xian !”

There wa s no reason for Li Wei Yang to lie about this point , because if at that moment , it would be absolutely impossible for her to escape if she did not dodge quickly . What more , the scene at that time , both of the girls ’ horses were racing neck to neck , regardless of whether the other party wa s trying to kill Li Wei Yang or Gao Min , both of them have entered into danger together ! Wei Guo Furen only thought that Li Wei Yang was lucky but never thought that she was already prepared for this , after all , who in this world would risk their own life ? Even more impossible to devise such terrifying trap ! She resented Li Wei Yang , but loathed Concubine Zhang De even more , they originally wanted to borrow her hand to get rid of Li Wei Yang , instead were harmed by the killer sent by her !

Li Wei Yang came out of Wei Guo Furen ’ s tent , looked back and couldn ’ t help but smile slightly.

Zhao Yue felt it was weird : “ Xiaojie , why did you do this ?”

Li Wei Yang smiled and did not answer .

On the last day of hunting , the white wolf was captured by Seventh Prince , the Emperor was happy and held a banquet to celebrate .

This was originally a harmonious banquet , but chaos came out of the banquet. A palace maid was actually an assassin that snuck in , in attempt to assassinate the Emperor , however , the royal palace had already assigned experts to personally protect the Emperor and the important concubines. T hat palace maid had just pulled a knife from the tray and was immediately discovered by someone before she had the chance to take action and was captured on the spot . The Emperor ordered an interrogation , that palace maid slitted her own neck and died from suicide .

The Emperor was enraged and ordered someone to search the body . The result wa s that an imperial pass was discovered on the palace maid ’ s body . Upon checking the imperial pass , it actually came from Concubine Zhang De ’ s palace .

At that moment , everyone ’ s faces changed .

Concubine Zhang De had always been favoured by the Emperor , still standing to this day , but this time the Emperor was furious , taking the imperial pass and threw it hard : “Concubine Zhang De , you have done a good job !”

Concubine Zhang De’ s face suddenly became pale , she has been in the palace for a long time , she wa s already used to these kind of matters , but she has never seen the Emperor being this furious before , that she fell straight to the ground from fright of this sudden mishap. She forgot her intelligence and quick wits and knowing how to explain herself , cried loudly : “Your concubine has been wronged ! His Majesty , your concubine has been wronged !”

Li Wei Yang watched from afar , a trace of smile appeared on her face .

Concubine Zhang De’ s face wa s full of tears and kept saying : “ His Majesty ’ s great kindness is deep , how could your concubine plot against His Majesty ?!”

The Emperor has experienced many changes in the palace , often falling prey to others ’ machinations since childhood , that what he loathed and feared most we re these underhand methods . Without thinking carefully in his fury , he shouted : “ Take Concubine Zhang De away , to be dealt with .” Once the words came out , everyone was shocked .

“ Imperial Father —” Tuoba Yu quickly stepped out , then suddenly thought , no matter what , now is not the place or time for him to anger the Emperor . Even if he wanted to address the injustice for his Imper ial Mother , he still has to wait until the Emperor ’ s thunderous fury disappeared , no matter what is said now , he would not listen !

“Concubine Zhang De has definitely been wronged !” In the midst of this discussion , suddenly a childish voice spoke .

The crowd was taken aback , all looking at Ninth Princess ,

Originally Ninth Princess has deliberately went to sit with Li Wei Yang , now she rose from her seat and quickly stepped out , kneeled on the ground , bowed a couple of time and said : “ Imperial Father must not decide the sins of Concubine Zhang De based on a single imperial pass .”

Concubine Rou suddenly stood up : “ His Majesty , Ninth Princess is still a child , she does not understand anything !”

Ninth Princess said courageously : “ Imperial Father , there are a lot of people here , how hard is it to get an imperial pass ? If this imperial pass is really from Concubine Zhang De ’ s palace , why would she let that person wear it , is she not afraid that other people would know ? This is a set up !”

Everyone lowered their head , of course they could see that this is a set up , however in front of the Emperor ’ s fury , no one dare to say a word of defense for Concubine Zhang De.

The Emperor looked at his favourite little daughter in surprise , she wa s not particularly close to Concubine Zhang De , but today she suddenly came out to speak up for Concubine Zhang De. Th inking about it , the relationship between Concubine Rou and Concubine Zhang De wa s not on good terms , but Ninth Princess did not avoid it , in the end she is still a child — it is because she is a child , therefore she dared to say what others do not dare to , even the fact that the Emperor did not think of in his moments of fury , she actually dared to say it in public .

Thinking of it carefully , the evidence we re here; such clever and wise Emperor , because Concubine Zhang De wa s respected and dear to him , therefore he was unable to take such blow , especially when angered . If he wronged Concubine Zhang De due to such simple set up , even if he made up for it in the future , a rift will still remain , especially between husband and wife , between father and son . Having thought over this , he looked at the earnest gaze of Seventh Prince who i s watching Concubine Zhang De silently , his face calming down .

Concubine Wu Xian who has been silent this whole time suddenly opened her mouth : “ Yes , His Majesty , this is someone who is jealous that Concubine Zhang De has received His Majesty ’ s favor , therefore they deliberately framed her , you must investigate carefully , to ensure you did not wrong Concubine Zhang De .”

Concubine Zhang De choked with tears , she threw herself in front of the emperor crying , both hands seizing the bottom of his gown and begged bitterly : “ His Majesty , your concubine would never dare to do anything that would harm His Majesty !”

The emperor has already understood everything , but feeling that he is at an awkward place , he went with Concubine Wu Xian ’ s words to get out of the awkward situation : “Y ou should rise , zhen (emperor addressing himself in first person) knows . You should return and rest , zhen will give you justice .” Then , turning to face the crowd : “ The banquet cannot continue on , everyone should disperse .”

Seventh Prince, Tuoba Zhen wa s really disappointed , he really hoped for Concubine Zhang De's downfall , although it seemed like this poorly thought out plan couldn't shake the concubine ’ s position , but as long as a seed of suspicion wa s planted in the emperor ’ s heart and and roots had formed , at a certain point of time , it will play a significant role , only for it to be destroyed like this today . He glanced at Ninth Princess grudgingly , only to find that she is chatting happily to Li Wei Yang .

It was Li Wei Yang who taught Ninth Princess to say those words ! Tuoba Zhen wa s the first one to understand ! His fingers , unconsciously tightened even more , almost drawing out blood .

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Translator: Angela

Editor: Erica

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