Imperial Capital—
After mourning for three days at the Mansion of the Duke of Cheng, on the fourth day when Consort De was preparing to return to the palace, she finally managed to evade the emperor's spies in Yanqing Palace and found an opportunity to speak with her father.
The Duke of Cheng exhaled heavily through his nose: "Mere daughter of a Minister of Punishment forced you into such a predicament—is it that she's too capable, or are you too incompetent?"
Consort De's hands hung at her sides, tightly clenched into fists: "Father, don't you know perfectly well whether she's capable or not? Wasn't it your people who instigated the Matriarch of the Zhu Family to use her palace connections against the Sixth Prince?"
The Duke of Cheng frowned: "Never speak of this again."
Everyone believed that it was the former empress's family who harbored murderous intentions toward the Sixth Prince, which was why white phosphorus powder was placed in the wet nurse's clothes.
What they didn't know was that the reason the Zhu family bypassed the former empress to act against the Sixth Prince was because the Matriarch of the Zhu Family's personal maid had previously been involved with the Duke of Cheng. She was a traitor who had been sweet-talked into following his orders.
The Duke of Cheng had promised her that once the Sixth Prince was dead, he would take her as his noble concubine.
Now that lowly maid was on her way to the capital with the disgraced Zhu family.
Consort De believed that given her father's ruthlessness, he would never allow that maid to reach the capital alive.
Thus, there would be no one left in this world who knew what he had done.
If Jiang Xinyue wasn't capable, how could she have forced him to take action personally?
Consort De took a deep breath: "Was Grandmother really killed by the Zhu family's assassins? Or did father use the assassins as an excuse to dispose of Grandmother to appease the emperor's anger?"
"Slap!"
The Duke of Cheng turned and struck Consort De: "How dare you bring this up? If you hadn't lost your mind and poisoned Xuan'er, your grandmother wouldn't have had to beat the empress with her rod, giving the emperor an excuse to take back the tiger head rod. With the empress dead, if your grandmother were still alive, would the emperor spare the Mansion of the Duke of Cheng?"
This was a tacit admission.
The Zhu family's assassins did attack Grandmother, but the wounds weren't fatal. It was father who chose a life for a life to quell the anger of both the palace and common people toward the Mansion of the Duke of Cheng after the empress's death.
"Father..."
Tears rolled down her cheeks in large drops. Consort De didn't turn her struck face back, but lowered her tear-filled eyes: "If one day, sacrificing your daughter's life becomes necessary to preserve the glory and wealth of the Mansion of the Duke of Cheng, would father abandon me just as unhesitatingly?"
Grandmother...
Grandmother was the only person who had been genuinely kind to her since childhood, expecting nothing in return. To protect father and her, Grandmother could unhesitatingly sacrifice herself.
But father wasn't grieving at all. He had already planned an escape route when he had Grandmother beat the empress.
Grandmother's death was orchestrated by him.
With or without assassins, Grandmother would have died—if not from illness, then from guilt over the empress's death.
"Stop thinking about such nonsense."
The Duke of Cheng didn't directly answer her question: "What you need to do now is stay put. Don't let Jiang Xinyue catch any weakness. Don't worry about Xuan'er; I've found a famous doctor who will make him speak again. Remember, when I say stay put, I mean do nothing at all. As for Jiang Xinyue... I will find the right opportunity to eliminate her for you. If necessary, you'd better show a repentant attitude before the emperor. No wall is completely sealed—you must prepare for the worst."
"Daughter understands. If father has no other matters to discuss, daughter will return to the palace now."
Even in the mansion, she couldn't cry freely, because normal human emotions were not allowed for her.
"Hmm!"
The Duke of Cheng nodded with satisfaction: "While that Jiang family's illegitimate daughter hasn't returned to the palace, hurry and arrange your own people into Hexi Palace."
Once Jiang Xinyue returns, Hexi Palace would become impenetrable again.
Yanqing Palace—
Muffled screams rang out. Luyin stood at the door, nervously closing her eyes and covering her ears, pretending she couldn't hear.
The muffled sounds were mixed with terrified pleas: "Consort De, I know I was wrong, wuu wuu... don't kill me, don't kill me... wuu wuu wuu... ugh..."
The pleading person inside was gagged and could only make short, urgent sounds of pain.
When the smell of blood wafted from the room, Luyin quickly waited at the door with a basin of water.
Consort De walked out with blood-covered hands, washed them in the copper basin, and dried them with a cloth: "I don't want to hear anyone in the back palace speaking of hearing screams or cat cries again, do you understand?"
Luyin quickly nodded: "This servant will have the Internal Affairs Department come tomorrow to renovate the windows and doors here."
To add some soundproofing.
Consort De snorted lightly and walked away.
Several palace maids who were usually very close to Luyin finally dared to breathe deeply, clutching Luyin's arm: "Sister Luyin, the Consort is becoming more and more frightening. I... I want to transfer to another consort's palace."
"I... I want to as well!"
Suppressed crying sounds arose: "Sister Luyin, I have elderly parents and young siblings to support. I don't want to die in the palace, wuu wuu wuu..."
"Enough!"
Luyin felt some sympathy but still hardened her heart: "If you serve the Consort well, nothing will happen to you. I'll pretend I never heard what you just said. If it reaches the Consort's ears, I won't be able to save you."
The young palace maids trembled in fear and fell silent.
In the room—
A woman in pink palace clothes lay on the ground barefoot with disheveled hair, all ten of her fingers bloody, her fingernails completely torn off.
The fingers are connected to the heart, and she was in too much pain to move.
When Luyin opened the door, the person on the ground raised her head—it was none other than Xiao Ronghua, who had disappeared from the palace. The emperor had searched extensively, turning the entire back palace upside down without finding her.
There were even rumors that before Xiao Ronghua's disappearance, she often spoke of hearing screams at night, suggesting she had been taken or eaten by ghosts.
It caused widespread panic.
Only when the Imperial Noble Consort ordered that no one in the back palace should discuss this matter further did the ghost stories stop spreading.
"Bang!"
The loud noise was particularly jarring in the night. Jiang Chuan's eyes flew open, and he ran out without even putting on proper clothes: "What happened? Such a loud noise?"
The palace was half-empty, with the emperor and many consorts having gone to Qin Province to escape the summer heat, leaving the palace suddenly quiet.
The consorts who stayed behind didn't need to compete for favor, spending their days either appreciating flowers in the Imperial Garden, enjoying views from the scenic pavilion, or gathering in small groups to play cards.
Life in Hexi Palace had also become very peaceful.
However, because the Consort had instructed that security in Hexi Palace must not be relaxed, even though the back palace was so peaceful, Jiang Chuan didn't dare to be negligent, fearing it might harm the Consort and the Sixth Prince in the future.
