“Your Ladyship, Your Ladyship… there are no ghosts, no ghosts!”
Yan'er and another maidservant who served Noble Lady Liu were running all over the palace, trying to catch Noble Lady Liu who was fleeing in terror: “Your Ladyship, please stop running.”
But Noble Lady Liu, with her hair disheveled and barefoot, had already run far away.
“Don’t follow me, it’s not my fault… it’s not my fault…”
Low Level Consort Yu and Consort Wen were still vying for the Emperor’s favor in front of Jiang Xinyue when Noble Lady Liu suddenly burst out, her hair wild, startling them.
“Goodness! What monster is that?”
Low Level Consort Yu and Consort Wen clung to each other in fear, while Xi Que and Shuang Jiang stood in front of Jiang Xinyue, shielding her. Just as it seemed Noble Lady Liu was about to crash into them, Xiao Xiangzi pushed the shrieking, disheveled noblewoman to the ground.
“No, no, no…”
Unexpectedly, the noblewoman, her face barely recognizable, rolled on the ground after falling: “Don’t kill me, don’t catch me, don’t kill me… go find Jiang Xinyue… no! Go find Concubine Cheng… hahaha… go find Consort De, kill them all! Kill them all, and the Emperor will be mine, hahaha…”
“Noble Lady Liu! Noble Lady Liu!”
Yan'er chased after her, and upon seeing Jiang Xinyue, she quickly bowed and pleaded in panic: “Imperial Noble Consort, please forgive us, my mistress was frightened by the incident of falling into the water. After fainting, she had a high fever for three days and became like this upon waking. She did not mean to offend the Imperial Noble Consort, please forgive her.”
“Is that Noble Lady Liu?”
“How did she end up like this?”
“The body was already identified as Chu, a missing servant from the Criminal Servants' Prison, wasn’t it? Noble Lady Liu fell into the water and was tightly held by Chu’s skeleton, which frightened her into unconsciousness. She must have been so traumatized that she lost her mind and became demented.”
Noble Lady Liu seemed completely disconnected, alternating between laughter and tears, her eyes unfocused, her fear and madness genuine, not staged.
If she had such divine acting skills, she would surely have a place in the harem.
But she was truly mad.
“Take her back and find a imperial physician to examine her properly. To be struck with madness at such a young age, how will she live the next several decades?”
Yan'er’s nose tingled, and tears streamed down her face as she choked back sobs, kneeling to kowtow to Jiang Xinyue.
She never expected that despite her mistress constantly opposing the Imperial Noble Consort, it was only Jiang Xinyue who cared about her mistress’s future.
With these words from the Imperial Noble Consort, she could now request an imperial physician to treat her mistress.
However, what no one expected was that Noble Lady Liu’s death was reported that very night.
“How did she die?”
Wang Dequan lowered his head and answered the Emperor’s question: “It’s said that after retiring for the night, Noble Lady Liu opened the door herself and jumped into the lake.”
Whether it was suicide or simply a misstep in the dark, no one knew.
But the one who reported it had to absolve themselves of blame to avoid punishment, so it was recorded as self-inflicted, not their fault.
The Xuanwu Emperor nodded: “Posthumously elevate her to the rank of Noble Lady Liu the Reverent, and bury her in the imperial mausoleum.”
Posthumous honors are for the living to see.
Jiang Xinyue sighed, feeling a slight sadness.
It wasn’t because of Noble Lady Liu’s death, but because in over two years in the palace, she had witnessed countless vibrant lives fade away. Xiao Ronghua and Noble Lady Liu, both ended up mad, how could one not sigh?
Sometimes, she couldn’t help but wonder, if these women’s souls were reborn in a future era, where their talents and skills could be more fully realized, would they still scheme so desperately for the affection of one man?
The answer was undoubtedly no.
“What’s wrong?”
On the comfortable dragon bed, the Emperor wrapped his arms around Jiang Xinyue from behind, nuzzling her neck: “Are you upset?”
“No…”
Her voice was muffled, and she turned to burrow into the Emperor’s embrace, looking up at him, her bright eyes sparkling like stars.
“Your Majesty, I must confess to you. Before we went to the Qin Province palace, my feelings for you were not very deep. Those expressions of love, I could have shown them to you, or to anyone who would become my husband…”
At this point, the Emperor’s grip on Jiang Xinyue tightened sharply, but he still forced a smile, saying through clenched teeth: “It’s fine, continue.”
“When I was young, I was not favored and often bullied. My mother, being exceptionally beautiful, was resented by the lady of the house. My memories of childhood are vague; I don’t know if I deliberately forgot the painful things or if I truly don’t remember.”
Warm tears wet the Emperor’s chest: “Now, when I recall, it seems I was either being beaten or on my way to being beaten. My father was rarely home, and my mother always told me to endure. As I grew older, my appearance surpassed even my mother’s, and my father finally noticed me, beginning to groom me. Back then, I told myself that I would never allow myself to be hurt by anyone again.”
Her trembling, tear-stained lashes revealed a touch of genuine emotion, and her eyes filled with love: “You are the Emperor, and you are destined to have many women in your life. If I love you, I cannot accept your physical intimacy with other women; I would go mad. So, I stayed in my shell, unwilling to give my heart fully, always holding back seven parts. I thought, if one day you change your heart, I could still protect my own heart and not end up too desolate.”
Three parts of truth were played by Jiang Xinyue into ten parts of emotion, and anyone would be captivated. No wonder the Xuanwu Emperor was so deeply drawn.
He kissed her forehead tenderly, his heart aching: “You’re right, all your concerns are valid. I indeed cannot dismiss the harem due to the political implications; I don’t want to cause unrest in the court. But, Xinyue, I promise you, your worries are unnecessary. I will love you wholeheartedly and grow old with you. From now on, no one will dare to bully you; I will protect you well.”
Jiang Xinyue nodded: “I know. Since the trip to Qin Province, when the Emperor chose not to sacrifice my cousin Jiang Yuncai but considered my feelings and spared the Qu Family, I knew that the Emperor truly cares for me. From that day on, I also opened my heart to the Emperor.”
If the Emperor had not chosen to save Jiang Yuncai, the Qu Family would not have been so lightly punished.
The entire Qu family would have paid a heavy price, not just losing the Imperial Pardon.
The Qu Family would still be the most influential clan in Qin Province.
The Emperor had, for Jiang Xinyue, abandoned the opportunity to eliminate the Qu Family, a powerful local force.
Jiang Xinyue’s heart was not made of stone.
She did not want to be assimilated by this era, did not want to become one of the harem women who lamented their fates. But this era would not change just because she was a time-traveling woman (a woman from the modern era).
She could not change it…
So, she would hold tightly to the Emperor’s heart, using his love to obtain what she wanted.
