It had to be said that although Song Zhao had not been in the palace for long, she was quite confident in her guesses about [Xiao Jingheng]'s intentions.
On this day, after three rounds of drinking, [Prince An], [Prince Rui] and [Prince Qi] left the palace together.
After they withdrew from their seats, [Xiao Jingheng], who was sitting at the head seat, suddenly had a dark look on his face.
He was fiddling with a string of eight treasures honey wax Buddhist beads in his hand. Suddenly he raised his hand and violently smashed it on the table.
The loud noise cut off the music being played. The [Empress] was the first to get up and walk to the hall below, leading all the imperial consorts to kneel down together,
"Your Majesty, please restrain your anger!"
[Jiang Deshun] leaned over and presented the broken phoenix-headed lute with strings snapped to [Xiao Jingheng].
"Your Majesty, the court musicians have already checked the place where the lute strings were broken. The musicians said that the reason why the strings broke was because the wooden part was damp and [Concubine Xiao] was playing Vigorous Ambush just now, which is an passionate song, that’s why this accident happened...”
[Xiao Jingheng] glared at him and said solemnly:
"Are you trying to tell Us that this was purely an accident?"
[Jiang Deshun] was so frightened that he fell to his knees, "This slave does not dare."
[Xiao Jingheng] said, "This phoenix-headed lute has always been taken care of by a special person. Bring the person in charge here."
He looked at the group of imperial consorts kneeling on the ground, his eyes flashing with cold light, scanning them one by one before letting them get up.
Everyone got up except for the Empress. After getting up, she knelt down again and said,
"No matter what, I am responsible for this. I was negligent for a moment and did not send someone to check the situation of the phoenix-headed lute beforehand. This has caused such a disaster. However, Your Majesty said this was not an accident?"
The Empress paused and said hesitantly, "Then we have to thoroughly investigate this and see who wants to plot against [Concubine Song].”
"No one wanted to plot against her. This was just an accidental injury." [Xiao Jingheng]’s eyes slowly fell on Song Zhao, the cold light in his eyes dissipated a bit, and his tone was much softer, “The one who offered to play the lute today was originally only [Concubine Song]. If it wasn't for her accidental injury to her hand, the disfigured person right now would probably be her."
Upon hearing this, a few unbelievable lights flashed across Song Zhao's eyes.
Then she was visibly panicked. Her hands that naturally hung in front of her kept anxiously fiddling with her skirt.
She wanted to say something, but she just opened her mouth and swallowed her words back.
Later she timidly lowered her head, her body shrank back a little, looking like a wronged, delicate little rabbit, making people feel pity for her.
At this moment, Consort Yin suddenly said,
"When [Concubine Song] said she wanted to play the lute just now, it seemed to this consort that Consort Chen didn't want her to touch that phoenix-headed lute. Alas, it turned out that [Concubine Song] was unlucky. There was someone who kept persuading her not to, but she just couldn't be persuaded.”
At first listen, Consort Yin seemed to be lamenting [Concubine Song]’s situation.
But if you carefully taste the profound meaning behind her words, you can feel that something is wrong.
She mentioned this sentence for no reason. Isn't it suggesting in a roundabout way that Consort Chen was suspicious?
It sounded as if Consort Chen wanted to deal with Song Zhao, but something went wrong and she didn't succeed.
So she simply stopped [Concubine Song] from touching the phoenix-headed lute, for fear that the person she wanted to harm was unharmed, and she would have to bear the risk of her vicious plot being exposed.
Everyone in the harem knew about Consort Chen’s jealousy. And it was also obvious to all that [Xiao Jingheng] had been favoring Song Zhao recently.
One thing led to another, and even her motive for doing this was available.
I didn't expect that Consort Yin, who seldom spoke on ordinary days, was able to hit the nail on the head with one sentence when she did speak.
Consort Chen was no fool either. Of course she understood the profound meaning behind Consort Yin’s words.
She looked back at Consort Yin and said unpleasantly,
"What do you mean by this? Are you saying that I tampered with the lute?"
Consort Yin said, "These were your own speculations. I didn't say anything specific."
"You..."
While the two were arguing, the eunuchs had just brought in the palace maid who was in charge of taking care of the phoenix-headed lute.
That palace maid was so frightened just by the thought of facing the Emperor that her legs trembled, her face extremely pale. She knelt down in the hall with chattering teeth and said,
"Y-Your Majesty, please forgive me. I am the one responsible for taking care of the [Holy Mother Empress Dowager]’s phoenix-headed lute... Ever since the [Holy Mother Empress Dowager] passed away, the phoenix-headed lute was sealed in the depot by the late emperor without being taken out.
It was this slave's momentary laziness that caused me to forget to apply tung oil on the lute last month, and that’s why the strings became brittle and snapped... This slave has no malice! Please pardon me, Your Majesty! Please give this slave another chance to correct my mistakes!"
This palace maid admitted her guilt readily. After saying all this, she kept kowtowing desperately to [Xiao Jingheng].
[Xiao Jingheng] stroked the biyu ring on his thumb. His face was still filled with doubt.
He obviously didn't believe what the palace maid said, but after being silent for a while, he still said, "Being so negligent in your duties, drag her out to be beaten to death with staffs."
That palace maid didn't even have the chance to defend herself before being gagged and dragged away by the guards.
[Xiao Jingheng] had drunk a lot today. At the moment, he leaned his elbows on the table with his palms propping up his forehead, looking dizzy.
The Empress took the opportunity to support him,
"Your Majesty, your servant has brewed a sobering soup in the palace. Drinking it will make you feel better."
[Xiao Jingheng] did not refuse it. So the Empress supported him and left first.
With the protagonist gone, the imperial consorts should also disperse.
When they left, Consort Chen called Consort Yin back. Her momentum seemed to indicate that she was going to make trouble with Consort Yin.
A place of right and wrong was not suitable for a long stay. Song Zhao did not linger and hurried away with [Yun Shan].
On the way back, when they passed by the side hall, she deliberately glanced out the window.
She heard [Concubine Song] ask the imperial physician,
"Can you tell me the truth? Can my face recover to its original state?"
"This... I dare not deceive the young mistress. The scars on the young mistress's face are very deep. It is unlikely to be fully restored. But in the future, the scars can be concealed with powder. If you don't look closely, nothing will seem amiss.”
Then she couldn’t hear the conversation in the hall anymore, only [Concubine Song]’s heart-wrenching wails.
[Yun Shan] supported Song Zhao and said in a low voice, "It’s late now. Let’s go back to rest, Young Mistress."
Back in the palace, when [Yun Shan] was helping Song Zhao wash up, she said,
"It seems that His Majesty was pretending to be drunk today."
"Oh?" Song Zhao raised her eyebrows at her, "What makes you say that?"
[Yun Shan] said, "There are not many dull servants in the palace. Even if they make mistakes on ordinary days, they will not admit it directly, and most will try to find some excuses to fight for a chance to live. But that eunuch who looked after the lute readily admitted to his guilt, as if he was afraid he wouldn’t die. This servant thinks that he deliberately wanted to die for someone else. "
Song Zhao looked at [Yun Shan] for a while, a little appreciatively said: "After following me for so long, you've finally made some progress."
"So does the Young Mistress think it was Consort Chen?"
"I don't know," Song Zhao shook her head. "No matter if it was her or not, from now on I will have to be extra vigilant. Looking at things today, keeping a low profile for so long, I was still being watched.”
Recalling [Concubine Song]’s miserable state, [Yun Shan] couldn’t help but shiver, “Luckily it wasn't the Young Mistress who encountered this matter today. Otherwise, His Majesty would have been heartbroken."
Upon hearing this, Song Zhao sneered,
Just as she had finished praising [Yun Shan] for making progress, she became muddled again,
"What is he heartbroken for? You should be glad that my face wasn't hurt. Otherwise who do you think His Majesty would side with? He won’t punish Consort Chen for me, at most he will pretend to care about me for appearance, then he will lose interest, and no longer look my way."
'Bang Bang Bang’
A few urgent knocks on the door interrupted Song Zhao's words. She asked, "What's the matter?"
[Xiao Fuzi] said outside the door:
"Young Mistress, His Majesty is here."
