"Ah!"
Xi Que let out a shrill cry, hugging Jiang Xinyue as she wept, "My lady! My lady? Wah wah wah... You were right, my lady, once you lost power, there are people everywhere who want to take your life. We were doing just fine in the Palace of Exile, not bothering anyone. Why is it that one day we're being poisoned, and the next we're being harassed? Waaah... My poor lady! My ill-fated lady!"
The sound of weeping spilled out from the walls of the Palace of Exile, and passing palace maids and eunuchs whispered amongst themselves, while some bolder ones even peeked furtively at the gate.
They could not see what was ahead, but from their vantage point, they only saw Consort Wan and Consort Jin looking down disdainfully at the seemingly unconscious Consort Zhen, who lay sprawled on the ground.
With Jiang Yuan's prior downfall as a cautionary tale before them, Consort Wan flicked her handkerchief, "How inauspicious."
With Jiang Xinyue lying there on the ground, there was nothing they could do. If the Emperor found out, he would accuse them of bullying her again.
After they left, the Palace of Exile fell silent for a long while.
Jiang Xinyue was a slippery eel, no matter what schemes and plots you hatched against her, she always had a stroke of luck that allowed her to turn misfortune into good fortune.
If you tried to oppress her with status, she would appear frail and sickly, gasping for breath every few steps, coughing incessantly, until everyone in the palace thought you were bullying her, before she could even say a word.
Recalling the Emperor's words when he forced Jiang Yuan to eat the poisoned pastry, none of the other consorts dared to make a move against her.
In the blink of an eye, it was the twelfth month, and the leaves of the camphor tree in the Palace of Exile had all fallen, leaving only bare, desolate branches.
Jiang Xinyue had not gone to bask under the tree for a long time, as it was too cold. Ever since she had recovered and the Imperial Physician stopped visiting, the Internal Affairs Department had not completely forgotten about the Palace of Exile, but they were not as diligent either.
"Cough cough cough..."
Indeed, the charcoal they sent was no longer the high-quality red charcoal from before, but the inferior pine charcoal used by the palace maids and eunuchs. Not only did it fail to provide enough warmth, it also produced a lot of smoke and ash, stinging the eyes and causing incessant coughing.
"My lady, don't look down on this charcoal. Among all the consorts in the Palace of Exile, you're the only one who gets this allowance. It's better than nothing," Xi Que tried to comfort her, afraid that she would be disheartened.
Jiang Xinyue opened the window a crack, "When have I ever been the sort to complain? This hardship is only temporary; our good days are still ahead of us."
In half a month, it would be New Year's Eve, the grandest palace banquet of the year when envoys from various nations would come to pay tribute to the Great Zhou empire.
Jiang Xinyue's opportunistic father was a junior minister at the Ministry of Rites, in charge of overseeing ceremonial arrangements, welcoming foreign envoys, managing etiquette, and so on.
If the Emperor still had feelings for her, he would find an excuse to release her from the Palace of Exile before the New Year.
Of course, she would not put all her eggs in one basket. Even if the Emperor did not care for her, there was still the Empress Zhu!
The court needed her father's services during this critical time, and the Empress Zhu would not let such a good opportunity slip by.
"My lady... My lady..."
A furtive figure approached Jiang Xinyue's bedchamber, with the young eunuch Xiao Xuan leading someone in, "Consort Zhen, you have a visitor."
Xiao Xuan's guest was likely one of their own people, not an adversary from Concubine Li's faction.
Mistress and servant exchanged a glance, and Jiang Xinyue motioned for Xi Que to open the door.
"Shuang Jiang! What are you doing here? Quick, come in!"
Shuang Jiang, bundled up in a thick winter coat, entered and shoved a food box into Xi Que's arms before rushing to Jiang Xinyue's bedside in tears, "My lady, I finally get to see you! Are you feeling better? Have all the aftereffects of the poison been purged? Did Consort Wan bully you that day?"
Thinking of her beloved lady suffering in the Palace of Exile, Shuang Jiang could not stop her tears.
Jiang Xinyue hurried to console her, "Don't cry, don't cry. When you cry, it pains my heart. How are things in the Hexi Palace? Have you all been mistreated?"
Shuang Jiang shook her head, "Before my lady entered the Palace of Exile, you entrusted us to the Empress, the First Princess, the Second Princess, and the Third Prince. The young masters and mistresses often visit the Hexi Palace to pick fresh fruits and vegetables for the Imperial Kitchen to prepare for the Emperor. The Emperor has even come to check on us a few times, instructing me to tend the gardens well. The Internal Affairs Department officials dare not neglect our palace out of respect for the Princesses and Prince."
So it seemed the Emperor did intend to release her, or else he would not have instructed Shuang Jiang in such a manner.
"Shuang Jiang, you brought charcoal!"
Xi Que opened the food box to find the long-awaited red charcoal inside, and immediately broke into a smile, "You don't need to worry about our lady anymore. Our lady is not the sort to suffer in silence, but where did you get this charcoal?"
Shuang Jiang glanced around the room, noting that the furnishings were no worse than those in her lady's chambers in the Hexi Palace, before wiping away her tears to explain, "Consort Liang and Consort De spared some from their own monthly allowances, afraid that Concubine Li's people would notice if they sent the good charcoal openly. I had to disguise it as food provisions."
Although the Emperor still had some affection for her lady, it was not much compared to the favor he showed the noble consorts.
If there were more conflicts, it would only bring suffering upon her lady. It was better to have one less trouble.
After swapping out the inferior charcoal, the air in the room felt much fresher. Shuang Jiang could not linger, or else she would overstay her time and risk being mistaken for an assassin by the Imperial Guards on her way back, with no one to plead her case.
Under Xiao Xuan's guidance, she slipped away from the Palace of Exile once more.
From the adjacent room came the sound of something heavy dropping to the floor, followed by curses, "You all claim to be good sisters, but now that I've fallen on hard times, not a single one of you has sent me bedding or blankets. Have the people from the Internal Affairs Department died? Are you trying to freeze me to death?"
Jiang Xinyue instructed Xi Que to gather up the inferior pine charcoal, "Have Xiao Xuan send it over to her."
"My lady!"
Xi Que stomped her foot in protest, "You can't..."
"I'm not taking pity on her."
She would never pity any consort who had tried to harm her and ended up disgraced.
"I said before that I want her to witness with her own eyes as I rise step by step to greater heights. If she can't endure this winter, how will she ever see the day I leave the Palace of Exile?"
Her lady always had her own calculations. As long as she did not let maternal affection cloud her judgment, it would be fine - the imperial harem had no room for such soft-heartedness among the consorts.
"These charcoals were sent by Consort Zhen?"
Jiang Yuan shivered with cold. There was no silk quilt, let alone an ordinary cotton quilt on the wooden bed. There was only a tattered, thin sheet that was barely a covering, and a blanket that provided no warmth at all, its purple-red floral pattern faded from repeated washings.
Xiao Xuan set down the charcoal brazier, a polite smile on his face: "Consort Zhen is kind-hearted."
Jiang Yuan let out a cold laugh: "Kind-hearted? Any kind-hearted woman in this palace has long since gone to meet King Yama. She merely hides her true nature well."
