This affair had reached a point where it was entirely tied to Consort Yun.
Xiao Jingheng darkened his gaze as he scrutinized Consort Yun for a moment before angrily asking, "I want to know, what was your aim in committing all these sinister acts?"
Seeing that the matter was exposed, before Consort Yun could speak, it was Concubine Li who hurriedly went ahead and fearfully said:
"Your Majesty, forgive me! Those words from earlier, Consort Yun came to seek this concubine last night and told this concubine to say them deliberately! This was not of this concubine's own volition! This concubine truly..."
"You simply did whatever Consort Yun told you to do, as if you have no mind of your own!" Xiao Jingheng roared, then said, "Since you listen to Consort Yun's words so obediently, then go be her senior palace maid in her palace!"
Concubine Li was startled with widened eyes, her whole body sweating as she cried, "This concubine knows her mistake! Your Majesty, please calm your anger! Forgive this concubine!"
Yet her tears at this moment only served to annoy Xiao Jingheng.
He coldly said, "If you keep rambling, you'll be sent to the Cold Palace to reside."
Thus, Concubine Li dared not speak further, only silently weeping like rain.
Consort Yun, who had been coldly watching all this, suddenly let out a cold laugh.
She disdainfully glanced at Xiao Jingheng, then impatiently said to the still-sobbing Concubine Li, "His Majesty has always been so heartless, what is there for you to cry about?"
Zhao Hua asked her in a solemn voice, "Consort Yun, Consort Shun had no grievances with you. For no reason at all, why did you have to tarnish her reputation?"
Consort Yun laughed, "Hah, tarnish her? It was her own fault for stumbling into it, she's just unlucky. What I wanted was simply to let His Majesty lose all face, to let the entire imperial court and masses know of his immoral behavior!"
As she spoke, she seemed to muster a great deal of courage from somewhere, pointing at Xiao Jingheng as she scolded, "I intend to let all under heaven know that you, this Emperor, are incompetent in every way, a useless waste who cannot even control his own consorts!"
"You're insolent!" Xiao Jingheng angrily slammed the table, his body lurching forward as he tightly clenched his teeth, forcing out each word through the gaps, "Vile woman! You've gone mad!"
"Mad? Haha, you're right, I have gone mad! You just look around, how many women in this palace have you not driven to madness? No... no." She shook her head bitterly, endlessly wry smiles on her face. "It was you who went mad long ago! You're the one who is completely, thoroughly mad! You forced my father to admit that his attempt to establish his own kingdom was instigated by the Prince of Rui, deceiving him by saying that after this, there would be no further consequences! But what was the reality?"
Tears streamed down her face, tracing the increasingly prominent wrinkles down to her thin, bright red lips.
"A few days ago, when Xiao Yinzi went out of the palace to make purchases, she saw that my family home was holding a funeral. Upon asking, she learned that my father had tripped over a loose brick in the courtyard at night and accidentally hit his forehead, killing him! How could this be an accident? It was clearly your doing, going back on your word! Settling scores after the fact!"
Xiao Jingheng knew he could not hide this from Consort Yun, and truthfully, he had no intention of hiding it from her in the first place.
After all, in his eyes, a woman was not worthy of causing any sort of upheaval.
Now, facing Consort Yun's hysterical accusations, he only lightly said, "Your father committed a crime deserving of death. I preserved his reputation after his death, which was already giving face to him and your Dong clan!"
"Face? Hahahahaha!" Consort Yun laughed angrily, raising her hand to wipe away her tears. "Was that giving face to my Dong clan, or were you afraid that your dirty deeds would one day be discovered, so you hurriedly killed my father to silence him in order to preserve your own reputation!?
Xiao Jingheng, do these lofty excuses not make you sick when you hear them yourself?"
"You..." Xiao Jingheng was so angered by her words that even his breathing became hurried.
But Consort Yun did not let him get a word in, only venting all her resentment and loathing in one breath:
"You what? This is simply the kind of person you are, so untrustworthy and inconsistent, calculating against everyone! Someone like you will inevitably lose the hearts of the people! I'll wait! I'll wait to see the day when you are spurned by all the officials and common people under heaven!"
Amidst the argument, Xiao Yinzi respectfully entered and quietly reported to Xiao Jingheng, "Your Majesty, an envoy from the Hu nation has arrived, saying they have an important matter to discuss with Your Majesty."
With his facade exposed by Consort Yun, Xiao Jingheng did not know if it was out of guilt or what, but he now looked at her with only disdain. No longer acknowledging the madwoman, he only patted Consort Rong's shoulder and gently said to her tear-filled self, "I've troubled you."
Then, turning back, he said, "As for the remaining matters here, let Zhao Hua handle them. Only one thing..." He glanced coldly at Consort Yun, saying, "I do not wish to see this poisonous woman in the palace again."
With those words, he swiftly turned and left.
Zhao Hua knelt and bowed to his departing figure, "This servant will see Your Majesty off."
After raising her head and seeing him board the carriage, she turned a cold gaze toward Consort Yun.
"Trying to hit a rock with an egg, to avenge your father you even dragged innocent people down with you. Is this the way of conduct for your Dong clan?"
"Innocent people? Heh..." Consort Yun scoffed with a mocking smile. "Who in this palace is innocent? On the path to your current position as Empress, do you think you were pure and innocent? Have you never schemed against His Majesty or the other consorts?"
Zhao Hua idly stroked her hair, an ambiguous smile on her face as she said, "Whether I am innocent or not is something I have no need to explain to someone like you who is about to die."
She then said in an extremely light voice to Xiao Yinzi:
"Go and inform the ministry, Consort Yun... is deceased."
The implication of her words was that Consort Yun would be eliminated silently, without even a shred of dignity left.
Upon hearing Zhao Hua's decree, Consort Yun could only bitterly smile, no longer bothering to argue.
Xiao Yinzi responded, "This servant understands, but what about this Concubine Li..."
Concubine Li, seeing that Consort Yun would not be spared, became even more terrified.
Already kneeling on the ground, she crawled all the way to Zhao Hua's feet, desperately clutching at the hems of her phoenix robe as she begged incoherently:
"Empress Dowager, show mercy! This concubine knows her mistake, please give this concubine another chance! This concubine... ah!"
But before she could finish speaking, she was forcefully kicked in the shoulder by Yun Shan, sending her flying over a yard away.
"You vile maid! Don't let your dirty claws defile the Empress Dowager's phoenix robe!"
Concubine Li looked on in bewilderment, "You..."
Zhao Hua said, "Yun Shan's words do have a point. Xiao Yinzi, did His Majesty not just give Concubine Li to Consort Yun as her personal maid?"
"Yes."
Zhao Hua smiled pleasantly, clasping her hands in her sleeves as she calmly walked toward the exit. Only as she passed the still-uncontrollably weeping Concubine Li did she casually remark,
"Since Consort Yun is deceased, as a loyal servant, Li should... follow her master in death."
