After seeing off Ning Wanshuang, Zhao Hua returned to the main hall to meet with Consort Yin and Consort Ru.
Upon seeing Zhao Hua, they said in succession:
"For the funeral of Princess Jin Yue, the Empress has taken much burden and looks haggard."
"Yes, in recent days, the Empress has had to attend court with the Crown Prince as well as manage the rear palace affairs. She has truly been overworked."
Faced with their concerned words, Zhao Hua merely smiled faintly, then arched her brow towards the empty seats and said:
"Sit down."
After they took their seats, Zhao Hua pointedly jested:
"Consort Yin and Consort Ru come to see me at this time, surely not just to ask after my health?"
Hearing this, Consort Yin glanced around, surveying the palace maids attending them one by one.
Understanding, Zhao Hua instructed Yun Shan: "Dismiss the maids to attend elsewhere."
Only after Yun Shan had removed all the maids from the hall and the doors were firmly shut did Consort Yin say in a low voice:
"To respond to the Empress, my father sent word that he is willing to follow the Empress and take a chance!"
Consort Ru also spat out: "This is no life for a person, I cannot bear another day of this!"
She roughly untied her hair bun, letting her dark tresses cascade down like a waterfall.
"That miserable Emperor likes to force everyone to bind their hair into those unsightly bun sacks! Since he likes it so much, he should tie one on his own head! We Mongolian women have never had so many ridiculous rules!
Empress, the Mongols fear becoming the next North Tribe. Father also said that if the Empress does not go back on the conditions she has proposed, the Mongols are willing to lend her their strength!"
Since the day Cheng Yu began acting as regent, the entire rear palace understood that the position of sovereign would eventually fall to him.
Thus, Zhao Hua had secretly persuaded Consort Yin and Consort Ru, exploiting the predicament of their home tribes and their hatred towards Xiao Jingheng, to secretly communicate with their families and urge the North Tribe and Mongols to submit to the next Emperor of the Qi Dynasty.
By choosing a wise ruler, they could protect their homelands from invasion.
Otherwise, if Xiao Jingheng continued to hold power, all nations and tribes would eventually become territories of the Qi Dynasty under his oppressive rule.
Now with such responses from the North Tribe and Mongols, it was within Zhao Hua's expectations.
With this, combined with the 20,000 Danzhou warriors given by the late Prince Rui to Xiao Jingheng, as well as the forces of Tian Ji and others, Zhao Hua already had enough strength to temporarily contend against Xiao Jingheng's power.
A swift sword could cut through the tangled mess.
As long as Xiao Jingheng's demise came swiftly enough, this realm would be at complete peace.
At this point, Zhao Hua smiled thinly in response to Consort Ru's earlier words:
"It is to help me, and to help you, and... to help all the women in this realm who are suppressed by men."
At the same time, in Zhaoyangong Palace.
Xiao Jingheng reclined on his sickbed, grasping a painted scroll in his hand.
It was a portrait painted by an artist from the Ruyi Gallery during Jin Yue's childhood, depicting the innocent and joyful child dancing amidst vibrant colors.
Xiao Jingheng had no intent to harm Jin Yue, yet she died because of him.
As a father mourning his child, his heart was filled with sorrow and remorse, his eyes reddening as he murmured to himself:
"Retribution, it is all retribution... I killed my own daughter, I..."
As Xia Ze finished preparing Xiao Jingheng's medicinal soup for the day, he came forward with the bowl and gently advised:
"When I drew blood from Princess Gulun, I was always very careful with the quantity. That slight blood loss would only cause drowsiness and brief dizziness for the Princess, not much harm to her body. This time, the Princess met with an accidental fall from a height, leading to her demise. Your Majesty need not blame yourself excessively."
The healing medicine was right beside Xiao Jingheng.
He had taken over a dozen doses already, his body indeed improving day by day.
The faint bloody scent from the medicine was something he had grown accustomed to.
Yet today, upon smelling that scent again, Jin Yue's innocent smile flashed unbidden in his mind, causing Xiao Jingheng's stomach to churn - he could not bring himself to drink it no matter what...
Seeing him retch, Xiao Yinzi hurriedly brought a jade basin and ordered someone to fetch the Laneige jade rinse for Xiao Jingheng to gargle.
Meanwhile, Xia Ze continued:
"Now that Princess Gulun has passed, only the Third Princess can be used to..."
"Enough." Xiao Jingheng's brows furrowed as he waved his hands dismissively. "From now on, we will only use ordinary methods to treat me. No matter how slow my recovery, it does not matter. I... cannot harm my children any further."
Xia Ze fell silent for a moment before obediently agreeing.
Afterward, Xiao Jingheng instructed Xiao Yinzi to see Xia Ze out.
Alone in his inner chambers, Xiao Jingheng gazed at Jin Yue's portrait, weeping uncontrollably.
Xia Ze was not a court physician, nor did he reside within the palace.
As an outsider male, he could not stay overnight in the rear palace. Thus, he was escorted in and out by carriage each day.
Yet today, as Xia Ze sat in the carriage, the journey out of the palace seemed unusually long.
He peeked through the window curtain and realized this was not the route to the Shunchang Gate, and the night was so dark that not even two palace lanterns could be seen along the way.
Finding this odd, he called for the carriage to stop and asked Xiao Yinzi:
"This does not seem to be the way out of the palace. Where are you taking me, Sir Xiao Yinzi?"
Xiao Yinzi arched a brow at him, the corners of his mouth curling into a chilling smile as he said:
"Taking you... on your way!"
With those words, he struck Xia Ze with a heavy blow, knocking him unconscious.
"Take him away!"
*
A small bonus scene about Zhao Hua's typical day for those who think she has become stupid. Feel free to skip over this if not interested - there is another chapter of the main story after this.
This bonus is mainly aimed at those who claim Zhao Hua has become less intelligent. You may think she has, but consider her current circumstances:
As regent, Zhao Hua must attend court sessions starting at 5 AM, listening to all the officials' reports. She leaves court around 11 AM, then spends time organizing that day's court matters until around noon.
She then rushes to attend to the wretched Emperor - pretending affection, assisting him with medicine, and dining together while reporting on court affairs. This takes until around 3 PM.
After returning to her own palace with Ruo Xin, it is already afternoon. In the rear palace, many new consorts have entered, and the Empress must arrange for their matters. Not only that, but the Empress oversees all rear palace expenditures, rewards for officials' wives, and various other chaotic responsibilities.
Previously, Ning Wanshuang could assist her, but she has now left the palace to observe mourning rites. So Zhao Hua must handle everything alone. After finishing her duties and dining, it is likely around 7 or 8 PM.
There are three children in the palace - the young Cheng Ye still needs Zhao Hua's attention and comforting. The timid Cheng Yu attending court also requires her care to manage his emotions. The most low-maintenance is Ruo Xin, who can entertain herself all day without troubling Zhao Hua.
After the children have gone to sleep, Zhao Hua must organize the matters the Emperor told her about that day, so she can report them to the court officials the next morning.
By the time this entire routine is complete, it is around midnight. With court beginning at 5 AM, even if she falls asleep immediately, she only gets about 3 hours of rest.
Unlike modern routines of just brushing teeth and leaving for work, in ancient times she must spend time fully dressing and styling herself properly. So she must wake at 3 AM to prepare.
These things, I didn't write about because I didn't want to muddle through these trivial matters in this wordy text. I'll lay it out simply: Zhao Hua could only sleep three hours at most per day, sometimes she even had to go on night patrols, and then secretly plot with Consort Yin and others. I estimate she didn't even get two hours of sleep per day.
It's been over half a month since Ning Wanshuang left the palace and returned home, so Zhao Hua has had to endure this high-pressure situation for over half a month. I even saw some adorable commenters say that she herself didn't give Ruo Xin a bath, not being careful at all, not discovering the pinhole mark...
Oh my god, let me kowtow to you, why don't you first care about whether she even has time to bathe herself (crying laughing emoji)
From start to finish in this book, I haven't given the female lead any particularly explosive cheat codes. In my eyes, she's just an intelligent, normal woman. She can't possibly guess and calculate everything. If that were the case, I might as well just make her a clairvoyant prophet.
Moreover, from the perspective of the plot in the book, the Jin Yue incident was undoubtedly Xiao Jingheng's fault. I don't think the blame should be placed on the female lead for not discovering this matter. What's the difference between that and victim-blaming? Of course, if you want to blame the female lead, that's fine too. You're reading for entertainment, and you're blaming her, not me, haha~
Also, if some adorable readers feel unsatisfied and don't want to continue reading, you can directly drop the book. There's no need to solemnly tell me. Anyway, I didn't intend to make money with this book from the moment I decided not to write about noble maidens. I just wanted to earnestly tell the story I wanted to tell, rather than scratching for gimmicks and rotten money. That's all.
Alright, the introduction to Zhao Hua's day is done, and thank you for listening to me ramble on! There's one more chapter ahead, mwah.
