Chapter 115: Consort Yi

Chapter 115: Consort Yi

Ultimately, Lady Luo took the labor-inducing drugs and delivered a lifeless six-month male fetus.

The Emperor, upon hearing this news after court, sighed, perhaps out of pity for her loss, and immediately promoted Lady Luo to a fifth-ranked Consort, bestowing her the title Yi.

The newly titled Consort Yi was taken back to Jinlan Yuan, weakened by the miscarriage, and couldn't leave her quarters for several months.

The Empress interrogated the palace staff present outside Chonghua Palace, who all testified that Consort Yi fell by herself. Consequently, only a few of Consort Yi's attendants were mildly punished, and the matter was closed.

Changxin Palace, Jinlan Yuan.

In the medic room, Su Jin extinguished the stove, placed a cloth pad underneath, and carefully removed the medicine pot, pouring a full bowl of dark concoction. She placed the medicine bowl on a tray, touched her cold earlobes, and then carried the tray cautiously to the main room.

The room's windows were open, letting in the light fragrance of white locust flowers from the courtyard, bringing a faint smile to the pale-faced Consort Yi lying on the bed.

Su Jin entered, placed the still-hot medicine bowl on the table, and carefully checked Consort Yi's complexion. Relieved, she whispered, "Mistress, you look much better now. After you drink this medicine, I'll call the physician again."

Consort Yi smiled and nodded, whispering, "At least one life was saved."

Carrying a child whose heartbeat was weakening, her anxiety was palpable, and she had nearly acted impulsively several times.

Su Jin's voice dropped lower as she said, "Mistress, why did you go to Chonghua Palace... If Lady Sun and Lady Wan set a trap, your life could have been at risk."

Frowning in confusion, she added, "And why didn’t you just make it look like Lady Wan pushed you? You haven't been able to serve in bed for half a year, and now she benefits from it."

Consort Yi seemed unconcerned, slowly saying, "I just wanted to see if Lady Sun and Lady Wan would delay the physician, and if the one they called was the same who had been examining me all along."

"Why?" asked Su Jin, puzzled. "Do you still suspect one of them is responsible?"

"No," Consort Yi shook her head slightly, "Right after my fall at Chonghua Palace, I realized neither of them would directly harm me. At most, they would take advantage of the situation or kick me when I'm down."

"Then... could it really be Consort Zhao who wanted to silence you?" Su Jin asked, her face paling.

Consort Yi was silent for a moment before shaking her head: "No. After I stopped taking the tonics prescribed by Physician Cheng, I actually started to feel better, but... it was too late."

Pausing, she continued, "Whoever bribed the physician to prescribe those excessive tonics and keep silent about my condition, risking the extermination of their entire family, couldn’t be just anyone. After much thought, I concluded that only three people in the palace have such power."

Without naming the three, Su Jin understood and quickly closed the windows before sitting beside Consort Yi, who slowly said, "If Consort Zhao wanted to harm me, she would be worried I'd reveal something. She wouldn’t choose such a slow method. If I suspected her, the secret would no longer be safe."

"As for the Empress... I am openly her person. If the child was born, it would only strengthen her position. Why would she harm me?

"Thus, it leaves only... Hence the compensation of a consort title and an honorary name."

Consort Yi paused mid-sentence, noticing Su Jin's horrified expression. She patted her hand soothingly and whispered, "I only realized just now, it's not Lady Sun, not Lady Wan, not the Empress, not Consort Zhao... The Emperor wouldn’t harm his own offspring for no reason. This slow approach must be waiting for someone to act, maybe me, or someone else..."

"Then at Chonghua Palace..." Su Jin expressed her concern.

"That's not a problem," Consort Yi assured, "All of us are innocent, and I fell on my own without framing those two. At most, it shows I sensed something wrong with the child and was subtly testing Lady Sun and Lady Wan. Now that the child is lost, the outcome he was waiting for has emerged. I'm no longer involved in this matter."

In fact, Consort Yi hadn't spoken her suspicions aloud, but she had some guesses. The only thing that could prompt the Emperor to take such direct action through her was probably the agarwood matter personally ordered by Consort Zhao in the second year of Jianzhao.

But having gone through this ordeal, she resolved to pretend ignorance. Knowing too much was never a good thing.

The two remained silent for a while before Su Jin regretfully said, "It was a little prince..."

Yet Consort Yi showed no sorrow, coldly stating, "Su Jin, having survived this ordeal, and with the Emperor's guilt, I will have another prince."

She then resumed her gentle demeanor, softly saying, "Bring the medicine, it should be cool enough now."

The miscarriage of Consort Yi stirred modest ripples in the harem, soon overshadowed by newer events.

On the fifth day of May in the fourth year of Jianzhao, during the Dragon Boat Festival, the Emperor unusually reprimanded the Empress, allegedly due to unrest at the former Linping Marquis's household, suggesting poor household management.

If this were a minor issue, the Emperor's subsequent order to relocate the Grand Princess from Fengyi Palace to the nearby Worry-Free Palace in Yanqing Palace took the entire palace by surprise.

Although the imperial edict cited the Grand Princess's age of nearly eight, the need to learn independence, and the distance from the Imperial College to Fengyi Palace, even the Virtuous Consort in Guangyang Palace knew these reasons were meant to deceive outsiders.

In the Great Zhou, it was customary for princes to move out of the harem to Yanqing Palace at the age of five; there was no precedent for princesses doing the same.

What could be the Emperor's true intention behind such an order?

If it's dissatisfaction with the Empress, the imperial seal is still firmly in the Empress's hands, and neither the Second Princess nor the Second Prince has been taken away; if she's satisfied with the Empress, why issue such an edict?

Suddenly, amidst the brewing storm in the imperial court and harem, even the recently favored Lady Duan was left untroubled by others.

Yao Hua Palace.

Ever since the birth of Huayang, Emperor Qingfeng had instructed his disciples to set up a swing in the garden. At dusk, when the weather wasn't as hot as during the day, Huayang, holding her brother's hand, sat on the swing, gently pushed by Shi Liu and Hongying.

Jiang Hui sat in the garden pavilion, smiling at the scene, with a tong wood jiaoweiqin (a kind of zither) placed askew before her, yet untouched.

The Emperor stepped in with the warm orange hues of the sunset, carrying Nian'er and Huayang to Jiang Hui, smilingly inquiring, “Hui'er, what piece do you plan to play today?”