However, for Empress Zhu, being the empress was her lifelong pursuit.
As the saying goes, one man's meat is another man's poison.
People have different aspirations.
The empress sat back in her seat, her tense body relaxing: "You came to Yikun Palace today just to tell me these things?"
Jiang Xinyue shook her head, her expression forlorn: "Your Majesty, I have some things to say, but I don't know who to tell. After much thought, I realized only you could listen to my ramblings."
She bit her lip: "The Emperor... He showed me Xu Ying'er's testimony, but I don't believe her words. So I investigated privately and found that it was clearly Consort Rong who sprinkled something on Wet Nurse Cheng's clothes."
"Consort Rong?"
The empress couldn't help but think of the Empress Dowager, after all, it wasn't news that the Empress Dowager disliked her as the empress and harbored a deep hatred for Jiang Xinyue.
"Yes, it was her!"
Jiang Xinyue's expression turned resentful: "The Emperor had already uncovered the true culprit, yet he didn't tell me. Instead, he let you, Your Majesty, take the blame. Fortunately, an official from the Imperial Wardrobe informed me that the head seamstress Xie had placed something in Wet Nurse Cheng's clothes. That's how I found out. Your Majesty, if I could uncover this, I don't believe the Investigative Bureau couldn't. They must have discovered it but chose not to tell me. Don't you think we might have been wrong all along? Perhaps the one the Emperor favored in his youth wasn't Consort Shu, but Consort Rong?"
The empress's mind was reeling from Jiang Xinyue's words, almost unable to think.
If this was true, then the Emperor had hidden his true feelings far too deeply.
"Consort Rong once told me a secret to provoke me against Consort Shu," she whispered into the empress's ear. "The one who killed the child in her womb was Consort Shu."
So it followed logically that when the Emperor executed Consort Shu, was he actually avenging Consort Rong?
"Concubine Zhenxian went to Yikun Palace?" Consort De caressed the golden book she had just received, a glint of malice flashing in her eyes. "Is she so eager to poison Your Majesty against me? Is she afraid that once I receive the imperial seal, Your Majesty will move against her?"
Luyin twisted the handkerchief in her hands: "What should we do? Should we go explain things to Her Majesty?"
The Emperor had said earlier that he would entrust the golden book to their mistress, letting her help Concubine Zhenxian manage the inner palace. But in the past two days when their mistress went to Yikun Palace, she kept silent about this matter.
Allowing the empress to misunderstand that both the imperial seal and the golden book were under Concubine Zhenxian's control.
"Explain what? The Emperor entrusted the golden book to me for safekeeping. Should I refuse and hand over both the imperial seal and the golden book to Jiang Xinyue?" Consort De had lost the position of Chief Consort last time, and she felt some regret, wondering if she had appeared too easygoing, making the Emperor doubt her ability to handle the role.
So this time, she wanted to show the Emperor her capability in managing the six palaces.
As for the empress, at this point, she no longer wanted to curry favor with anyone.
As Jiang Xinyue left the empress's inner chamber, her gaze fell on the young palace maid who had blocked the door earlier. She slipped a high-quality ice-green jade bracelet off her wrist: "You're loyal to your mistress. You deserve a reward."
However, the threatening look in her eyes scared the young maid so much that she trembled, not daring to refuse. Every hair on her body stood on end.
Concubine Zhenxian was warning her to keep her mouth shut, to know what should be said and what shouldn't.
Otherwise...
Once out of Yikun Palace, Jiang Xinyue's expression turned cold, her eyes filled with a murderous intent.
Jiang Chuan shook his hand, a circle of red teeth marks visible at the base of his thumb, already bleeding.
Jiang Xinyue glanced at it and said, "Go to the Imperial Hospital later and have Yan the Imperial Physician take a look. Human teeth can be poisonous too."
Jiang Chuan nodded: "My Lady, that young palace maid..."
Jiang Xinyue smiled: "Go inform the Investigative Bureau that I lost a priceless bracelet given to me by the Emperor while visiting the empress."
Jiang Chuan knew his mistress never made unprofitable moves.
Yesterday, after the Emperor had a big argument with the empress, he had dismissed most of the palace staff, which conveniently facilitated his mistress's surprise visit today.
Choosing to come during the busy lunchtime, when there were few people in the empress's palace as most were busy with their duties, the vast Yikun Palace had only one maid guarding the outside.
When Jiang Xinyue reached the main gate, she had Jiang Chuan cover the maid's mouth while she and Xique approached the empress's chambers.
Jiang Chuan didn't know what his mistress had heard, but it must have been something significant, otherwise her face wouldn't look so grim now.
In Chengqian Palace, the Emperor was quickly scanning through letters from Chang'an. As he read on, the anger on his face grew with each line.
"Bang!"
His fist slammed hard on the peach wood table, leaving a bloody mark on the Xuanwu Emperor's hand. All the palace servants in Chengqian Palace immediately fell to their knees.
Seeing this, Wang Dequan quickly asked Tang Shiliang to fetch some medicine for wounds: "Your Majesty, please don't harm yourself. If Concubine Zhenxian sees this, she'll be heartbroken."
Hearing the mention of Concubine Zhenxian, the Xuanwu Emperor's anger subsided a bit. Feeling guilty about the matter with Consort Rong and how it affected Jiang Xinyue, he said, "Wang Dequan, prepare the ink and brush. I want to appoint Jiang Yanxi as an imperial envoy to investigate the case of corrupt officials in Guangdong on my behalf."
It was one thing for the Zhu family to act like emperors in Chang'an, but they dared to extend their reach into his inner palace. Seeing that he had punished the empress, they even tried to threaten him using the father of Consort Yu, the Governor-General of Liangguang.
They should know that if the empress hadn't been willing to hand over the imperial seal and insist that she was the one who placed the phosphorus powder, the Emperor would have already ordered the execution of the entire Zhu family.
Very well!
Let's see who's the tougher one in this confrontation.
The Emperor didn't believe it was pure luck that allowed Jiang Yanxi to obtain evidence of the officials' corruption and safely escape assassination attempts.
Appointing him as the imperial envoy was most fitting.
Xinyue was an intelligent woman, a fact the Xuanwu Emperor had deeply realized when she captured the emperor's heart.
She would investigate and find out who the true culprit was behind the attempted murder of the Sixth Prince. He hoped that when the time came, she would understand... everything he had done was paving the way for her.
The empress was not a concern; the challenge lay in toppling the Zhu family behind her.
Consort Rong wasn't the main point either; the key was how to silence the Empress Dowager without being accused of filial impiety by the court officials.
He wanted to play the long game and catch the big fish.
"Your Majesty, Miss Pei from the Empress Dowager's palace requests an audience."
"Miss Pei?" The Emperor thought for a moment, a face both demonic and celestial appearing in his mind. "What does she want?"
"This servant doesn't know."
The Xuanwu Emperor hid his injured hand behind his back: "Let her in."
What would happen when a beautiful young woman in thin clothing entered Chengqian Palace?
The Empress Dowager smiled satisfactorily, then sighed to Consort Rong: "I made Consort Shu your scapegoat, pretending to be at odds with you, yet you still failed to gain the Emperor's sympathy. I had no choice but to do this."
