Chapter 393

If she could have done it, she wouldn’t still be just a lowly Xiuyuan after all this time in the palace.

Shi Xiuyi paused her motion of twisting her bracelet, her expression turning hesitant as she looked at Tong Xiuyuan, seemingly on the verge of saying something but holding back. This piqued Tong Xiuyuan’s curiosity: “What’s the matter? Between us sisters, what can’t be said directly?”

“It’s just…”

Shi Xiuyi sighed heavily. “It’s not that I can’t say it, I just… don’t know if it’s true or not, and I dare not spread rumors… after all… it concerns Her Majesty the Empress’s reputation. If it’s false, it might harm the relationship between the Emperor and Her Majesty.”

“Reputation?”

The more she hesitated, the more interested Tong Xiuyuan became. “Come on! Tell me, I won’t tell anyone. How would the Emperor ever know?”

“Then… you mustn’t go around spreading this!”

Shi Xiuyi leaned in close to Tong Xiuyuan’s ear and whispered, “Last time my uncle and aunt came to the palace for a banquet, they told me that Her Majesty the Empress…”

The two of them stood there whispering for a long time, so quietly that even the palace servants couldn’t make out what they were saying.

In the side hall of Yanxi Palace—

Maner watched as her mistress hummed a cheerful Jiangnan tune, feeling puzzled. “Your Highness, your uncle went through so much trouble to get this information. Why did you so easily share it with Tong Xiuyuan? This was a perfect opportunity to bring down Her Majesty the Empress!”

Shi Xiuyi, trimming a pot of orchids by the window, merely smiled lightly. “My uncle told me this so that if I ever offend Her Majesty, I can use it to protect myself. Now that we’ve got Jiang Xinyue’s weakness, who exposes it doesn’t matter. Tong Xiuyuan and I are close, so it’s only right that I give her this opportunity.”

Maner was still confused, only understanding the last part. She stepped forward to open the window, letting the cool breeze in, and turned to look at Shi Xiuyi with admiration. “Your Highness is too kind-hearted and unwilling to compete for favor. Otherwise, with your background, how could Her Majesty the Empress have surpassed you?”

When Her Majesty the Empress first entered the palace, the Jiang family wasn’t even ranked among the prominent families in the capital.

But her mistress was the legitimate daughter of the General of the Northern Frontier!

Shi Xiuyi smiled faintly at the praise, but behind that smile lay a deep calculation.

The opportunity she gave to Tong Xiuyuan was actually a death sentence!

Her uncle had told her this information so she could find a scapegoat.

Why would she be the one to expose it?

The Emperor’s obsession with Jiang Xinyue was known throughout the palace. Formerly, even the Noble Consort Li, Consort Shu, Consort De, and even the late Empress were no match for her. Shi Xiuyi knew she couldn’t win either.

If she failed to bring down the Empress, she might end up losing her own life.

Even if the Empress really had… before entering the palace, and she succeeded in exposing her, the disadvantages would outweigh the benefits for her.

The Emperor loved Jiang Xinyue so much, so deeply. Could he accept her betrayal?

If he couldn’t, Jiang Xinyue’s fate aside, the person who exposed the Empress’s infidelity would surely be executed.

The Emperor might not be willing to kill Jiang Xinyue, perhaps he’d imprison and torment her, but the person who exposed this would bear the full brunt of his wrath.

She had no intention of being that informant who would be killed by the Emperor.

She was truly tired of living in this cold, desolate Yanxi Palace.

“The imperial decree has arrived—”

Outside Yanxi Palace and Jinhua Palace, the eunuch announced the decree conferring the title of Consort.

The Emperor gave them a slap and then a sweet treat, rejecting the proposal to make Tong Xiuyuan and Shi Xiuyi Empress, instead granting them the titles of Consort Tong and Consort Shi, moving them from the side halls to the main halls of their respective palaces.

It was a perfunctory gesture, not even giving them proper titles.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xinyue, who had been plotted against by Shi Xiuyi, couldn’t remember how many times she had been to the Investigative Bureau.

Consort Ru and her maid were locked up together, while Huang Yanyu was held alone in the cell across from them.

The three of them became agitated when they saw Jiang Xinyue emerge from the shadows.

Huang Yanyu cried, “Cousin, cousin, I really know I was wrong. Let me go home, please let me go home! I’ll never dare to dream again… this place is too terrifying, I don’t want to be here, I beg you… sob…”

She had no idea that poisoning Consort Liang would lead to her being discovered so quickly.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

To clear her name, she had even taken poison herself, suffering so much, only for it to be completely futile.

Her Majesty the Empress didn’t even need evidence to solve the case. She just looked at her twice and knew she was the one who did it.

She didn’t know if the Empress believed her attempt to frame Consort Ru.

Would she slip up during the interrogation?

Wouldn’t that make her crime even worse?

Jiang Xinyue walked over and reached through the bars to pat her head. “Don’t be afraid. As long as it wasn’t you, I’ll protect you.”

Wh-what?

Huang Yanyu’s frightened eyes suddenly lit up. “Cousin…”

Did the Empress mean… for her to keep blaming Consort Ru?

Yes, yes…

Compared to her, a mere maid, Consort Ru’s beauty was the real threat to the Empress.

The Emperor loved the Empress now, so he wouldn’t pay attention to other beauties, but what if one day he grew tired of her and sought amusement with Consort Ru…

Once it started, it would continue.

With the new, fresh-faced beauties entering the palace, once the Emperor tasted younger, more beautiful bodies, the Empress would no longer be his white moonlight or cinnabar mole, but leftover rice and a mosquito’s blood.

The Empress was so smart; she must have already thought of this and wanted to prevent it.

Huang Yanyu felt she had found a way to survive and leave the palace alive.

“Empress, let me out. I’m a princess of Goguryeo. You can’t treat me like this.”

Consort Ru didn’t hear what Jiang Xinyue and Huang Yanyu were saying, but she knew it couldn’t be good for her.

“Shut up!”

Once inside the Investigative Bureau, Jiang Xinyue no longer cared what the other concubines might hear.

She glared at Consort Ru impatiently. “Goguryeo, Goguryeo, aren’t you tired of saying it? Is Goguryeo so great? A tiny place with such big ambitions, just like Fusang, always coveting the land of Great Yan. If Goguryeo is so amazing, why did you come here to marry? Why didn’t your brother just make you Empress?”

“Oh! I overestimated your brother. He’s not capable of that. Such a useless man, and you keep bringing him up. Are you trying to remind me of his incompetence?”

“Don’t you dare insult my brother!”

Consort Ru slammed her hands against the bars. “My brother will—”

“Will what?”

Jiang Xinyue crossed her arms and sneered. “Will he dare to hit me or kill me? I bet he won’t even dare to fart. You’ll be the one who’s truly devastated then!”

What did “devastated” mean?

Was she mocking her for being in a prison cell?

So infuriating… truly infuriating…

Consort Ru gritted her teeth, wishing she could rush out and tear Jiang Xinyue’s hair out.