Rongyue took the tea cup, added a cup of warm water and handed it to Rongyue,
"If Consort Hui is willing to become a pawn of the Emperor, then she would not cause so much trouble in private. Although your father is the Admiral of the Navy, holding military power and high status, the navy troops he commands and the Ning Family are different.
The Emperor would not suspect that your maternal family would develop rebellious intentions in the future, so he would not be wary of your children. On the contrary, the Emperor has few children of his own. If he knows you are pregnant, he would definitely be overjoyed instead of ordering Consort Hui to harm your child.
Moreover, I no longer have the support of my maternal family behind me, and Cheng Yu is the Emperor's precious son. The Emperor would not be intolerant of him either. So since the incident of Cheng Yu being harmed, Consort Hui must have had her own schemes early on."
Rongyue said, "In order to investigate what happened to Cheng Yu in the plum garden, we tried our old tricks to expose the person behind the scenes. At that time, all the evidence pointed to the Empress, and the Empress also implicitly admitted it. But if this was Consort Hui's doing, would the Empress rashly take the blame to make us lower our guard and let Consort Hui continue to commit outrageous acts?"
Her brows furrowed as she clenched the cup in her hand, "In that case...does the Empress also know Consort Hui's identity?"
Song Zhao sneered and shook her head, "The Empress is meticulous and must have noticed something. As for how much she knows, we don't know."
"By rushing to take all the blame on herself that day, she was trying to cover up for the real perpetrator who harmed Cheng Yu. But by doing so, it would also make Consort Hui feel that she has noticed something, so Consort Hui would be even more intolerant of her."
Song Zhao listened to the increasing rain outside the window. She felt a chill coming in through the cracks in the lattice windows, making her hair stand on end. She couldn't help but wrap her clothes tighter and said,
"Consort Hui naturally has her own schemes since she is unwilling to be a pawn. She is also one of the Emperor's concubines. In the future, if she bears the Emperor's child, she would have the qualification to fight for the heir.
So getting rid of the Empress would benefit her no matter what. After all, the Empress has sinister and hard to control thoughts, while the Noble Consort is reckless and easy to deceive. If the Empress is completely overthrown and the Noble Consort has absolute power, and the Emperor cannot tolerate the Ning Family, then all the people in the forefront would be overthrown one by one. Only then would there be an opportunity for Consort Hui to rise."
"That can't happen!" Rongyue suddenly grabbed Song Zhao's hand, her face full of worries, "If both the Empress and the Noble Consort fall, then you are the most favored concubine of the Emperor in the palace. Moreover, Cheng Yu is the precious son, making you and your son's status extremely noble. That cheap woman must be mistaken to think that you would be the next target!"
The harem is like a towering tree with dense, intertwined branches and leaves. Power overlaps like layers of leaves covering each other.
After the obstructing branches and leaves above Song Zhao's head, namely the Empress and the Noble Consort, are damaged and fallen by the storm, the only person facing the thunder and lightning would be her.
"Consort Hui relies on the Emperor's current trust in her, but how long can the Emperor's trust in her last?"
Song Zhao shook her head with a wry smile, "Except for himself, our Emperor would not trust anyone."
Rongyue said, "Then we can't just wait and do nothing until the Emperor loses faith in her?"
"Of course not." Song Zhao's eyes darkened as she pondered for a long while and said,
"It's just very tricky. I can't think of a foolproof way for the moment. If ordinary schemes fall on Consort Hui and we act rashly, it would likely backfire. But today I'm the only one who spoke up for her, which should at least alleviate some of her concerns and prevent her from realizing that we're beginning to suspect her."
She patted Rongyue's hand to comfort her, "We still need a long-term plan for this. Now the most important thing is for sister to recuperate. I also hope that in the future, sister can let me know in advance before doing anything. Only by discussing together can we avoid being caught off guard."
Rongyue nodded in agreement, "I understand. I didn't tell you about today's matter because I knew you would never agree to let me take the risk. But I won't do that again in the future."
Seeing that Rongyue had calmed down and was exhausted from the ordeals today, Song Zhao told her to rest and settled her down before returning to her own residence.
After she left, Rongyue got up and leaned against the head of the bed by herself, watching the rain beating down the tender green leaves outside the window. The bleak mess on the ground was just like her current plight.
But after the new rain, the fallen leaves may still bloom,
while her life would eventually fall into the mud and rot without any chance of redemption.
The gloomy rain had lasted for days, shrouding the entire Suzhou city in layers of black clouds.
Although it was noon, it looked almost no different from dusk, oppressively suffocating.
The annoying rain dampened everyone's spirits,
but Noble Consort Chen was extremely delighted.
That day, she sat by the window watching the rain fall like strings of pearls, randomly flicking the raindrops with her hand, smiling and said:
"Liu Yue, look, the falling rain is like pearls, really beautiful."
Liu Yue chuckled and said, "Mistress is in a good mood, so everything looks good to you."
"Nonsense." Noble Consort Chen coquettishly scolded, "How is this consort in a good mood? The sky is leaking every day and we can't go anywhere with the constant rain. Being cooped up makes one feel suffocated, so how can I be in a good mood?"
Liu Yue said, "That's true. When the rain stops and the Empress is sent back to the palace, Mistress will truly be in a great mood! Today, His Majesty let Mistress personally preside over the silkworm ritual, which is an unprecedented honor since the founding of the dynasty. I believe the Empress has truly angered His Majesty this time. If the Empress is deposed, His Majesty would surely make Mistress ascend to the phoenix seat, become the central Empress, and be honored as the mother of the nation!"
"You~" Noble Consort Chen laughed and slapped Liu Yue's cheek, "Your little mouth is sweeter than honey. Don't just flatter me, are all the arrangements for the silkworm ritual in order?"
"Everything is in order." Liu Yue handed a register to Noble Consort Chen, "Mistress take a look to see if there are any parts that need modifying?"
Noble Consort Chen casually flipped through two pages. Her heart had long flown to Xiao Jingheng.
She closed the register, got up abruptly and said, "Many details still need to be finalized with His Majesty. Let's go find His Majesty."
When the mistress and servant arrived at Xiao Jingheng's courtyard in the rain, they saw Jiang Deshun scolding some palace maids by the side door. Noble Consort Chen did not ask him to send in an announcement. She headed directly towards Xiao Jingheng's room.
Just as she was about to knock on the door, she seemed to vaguely hear talking inside.
Thinking that Xiao Jingheng might be discussing some important national affairs with court officials, Noble Consort Chen decided to wait with Liu Yue in the side room.
But just as she was about to leave, she heard the man inside solemnly say,
"Your Majesty, the father and son of the Ning Family have been captured and are held by the Minister of War. They will be jointly monitored and beheaded by the Minister of War and the Executioner in three days."
