Chapter 500   Schemes of the Harem

Ning Xueyan met the reigning Emperor for the first time in the Empress’ palace.

She kowtowed to the Emperor and Empress together with Commandery Princess Xianyun, with Ao Chenyi following suit with a lackadaisical attitude. The Princess was dressed in a bright red robe while Ning Xueyan was dressed in purple. Ao Chenyi wore his usual black gown embroidered with crimson red spider lily patterns.

Ning Xueyan took care to take a step back when the Princess was greeting the Emperor and Empress and knelt behind her.

Ao Chenyi had long found a seat for himself on the sidelines. He had only bent his waist ever so slightly earlier, having been stopped by the Emperor when he tried to kneel.

The Emperor, seated high on the platform, was smiling. He didn’t look as solemn and dignified as expected, but his attention wasn’t on the women. After casually nodding, he waited for Ao Chenyi to speak.

The Empress appeared to be in her thirties. She wasn’t a beautiful woman but her dignity was palpable. She stood upright as she received greetings from Commandery Princess Xianyun and Ning Xueyan before raising her head and saying, “You may rise.”

The rules of etiquette in the palace were complicated and one was expected to perform them flawlessly. Unless they had learned these rules, many newcomers to the palace would inevitably embarrass themselves. The only reason Ning Xueyan was so familiar with these rules was her past life. She hadn’t learned much in her current life, only when Madam Dowager hired a newly-retired palace servant and taught her a few hasty lessons while she was in the Lord Protector’s Manor.

The Princess and Empress were naturally familiar with these rules. So when they were seated and the Princess was beginning to prattle on about her life, Ning Xueyan lowered her head and sat quietly, minding her own business. There were a few imperial consorts with good relationships with the Empress present too. They would occasionally exchange a few words with them.

“Huh?” an imperial consort asked in a quiet voice, “Consort Ning, your complexion looks poor. Are you perhaps feeling unwell?”

“Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I’m feeling well.” Ning Xueyan raised her head and looked at the surprised-looking young imperial consort. The imperial consort was gripping her handkerchief while biting her lower lip and widening her eyes at the sight of Ning Xueyan’s mouth. She looked as if something serious had happened.

Ning Xueyan sighed. Why couldn’t people let her finish this whole thing peacefully?

The imperial consort’s voice was neither loud nor quiet but it drew everyone’s attention towards Ning Xueyan’s face, especially the scar on the corner of her mouth that could not be hidden by lipstick. Several of the older imperial consorts had an understanding smile on their faces and stopped pursuing the matter. Unfortunately, there were quite a few younger imperial consorts with the Empress today; all of them were newly drafted into the harem this year.

These young ladies were at the peak of their beauty and easily earned the favor of the Emperor.

“Are you all right, Consort Ning? It’s your wedding, after all. How did you... Don’t tell me you suffer some grievances? What made you so unhappy? You have only just got married.” A favored imperial consort naturally didn’t use her brain before speaking. She looked at Ning Xueyan with a look of schadenfreude.

Ning Xueyan had met these two consorts at the Beauty Contest. She hadn’t offended them before, so she wasn’t sure why they were targeting her and suggesting that she suffered grievances on her first day at Prince Yi’s manor. What grievances could she suffer and whose fault were those grievances?

Their words were so suggestive that one couldn’t help thinking about them.

“Thank you both for your concern, Your Highness. To be honest, it’s because of my poor health...” Ning Xueyan said flatly, a cold glint flashing in her clear eyes. The smile on her face appeared indifferent as well.

The young imperial consorts felt humiliated after being ignored by a mere prince’s consort. One of them scoffed and said, “You have poor health, Consort Ning? That’s a matter concerning the Prince’s heir. We should invite the imperial physician to examine you lest we harm a royal heir in any way!”

“That’s right. Consort Ning, you’re really pitiful. For all your beauty and youth, your health is...” The other imperial consort immediately followed suit. These two had always been fighting for the Emperor’s favor. They always argued whenever they met, yet at a moment like this, they seemed determined to embarrass Ning Xueyan together.

They made it sound as if Ning Xueyan was so ill that she couldn’t bear any heirs at all!

Commandery Princess Xianyun appeared to be fully concentrated on the Empress and would reply to anything that she asked. She seemed to have heard nothing of the imperial consorts’ conversation at all. On the contrary, the Empress was looking at Ning Xueyan with her eyebrow raised. She looked calm but didn’t say anything.

Crash! A loud noise emerged from the sidelines. Frightened, everyone turned their heads and saw Ao Chenyi’s fierce expression. His anger was almost palpable. His almost-shaped eyes appeared to be dripping with venom as he stared at the two imperial consorts. “I don’t need outsiders worrying about my heirs. Are you both worried and concerned about me?”

His handsome face was marred with almost sinister coldness. His words didn’t sound harsh and even appeared like emotionless ridicule, but his meaning was clearly different when he was targeting the Emperor’s women.

Moreover, it wasn’t an imperial consort’s business to worry or show concern about him!

The two young imperial consorts were terrified after hearing his words and immediately explained, “Your Highness, that’s not what we mean. We’re just saying that your heirs are important...”

“My heirs are indeed important, but I don’t think I need to inform anyone as to who I want to bear heirs with!” Ao Chenyi retorted without any politeness.

The more they spoke, the more the imperial consorts seemed to make things worse for themselves. They hastily tried to explain themselves with a blushed face, “No, I mean...”

“I understand, so save it. I have received your kind intentions but remember your position. You’re the Emperor’s women. You can’t pay any more attention to me!” Ao Chenyi said languidly with a smirk. The instantaneous smile was almost blinding.

At that moment, he seemed to have shed off his usual sharpness. His handsome face inexplicably turned gentle and emotional as he looked at the imperial consorts. His voice had also become subconsciously slower as if he was speaking to his lover.

The two imperial consorts had never heard Prince Yi speaking to them so gently before. Suddenly, all they could see was his handsome, noble face and his gentle, graceful smile. They were so affected that they couldn’t even process his words properly.

They appeared infatuated by his smile and smiled along with him. They even subconsciously nodded as if they truly had an affair with him in the past.

In his seat, the Emperor was grim-faced. He was so angry that blue veins were protruding from his forehead. He could barely restrain himself. Naturally, he knew that it was impossible for Ao Chenyi to have any relationship with these two women. The problem was that the women were openly expressing their infatuation with Ao Chenyi.

How could he not be angry? It didn’t matter how much or little he liked these women. The fact that they were behaving like this was humiliating for him as a man, never mind as the Emperor.

Thump! He rapped the table hard, looking gloomy. “Servants! Drag these two women who have offended Prince Yi and throw them into the Cold Palace.”

The loud sound frightened the two young consorts so much that they snapped out of their infatuation. But before they could fully recover their senses, their fate had already been decided. To newly favored consorts like them, who had neither power nor influence, being sent to the Cold Palace was equivalent to being sent to their death.

“Your Majesty, I’m innocent.”

“Your Majesty, please spare my life!” The two consorts were so terrified that they knelt. Unfortunately for them, two eunuchs approached them and directly stuffed their mouths with a piece of cloth. Several more eunuchs appeared and dragged them out of the room.

The fate of those two women, as well as their families, had been decided in just a split second.

The older consorts secretly glanced in Ao Chenyi’s direction but were too frightened to look at his face. They mocked the two young consorts on the inside for daring to offend Ao Chenyi. Didn’t they know who he was? Not even the Emperor or Empress would meddle in his household affairs, yet those two insignificant imperial consorts dared to ridicule his consort.

Even if one wanted to hit a dog, one had to discern who its owner was. Although Consort Ning was rumored to be unfavored, she was nevertheless Prince Yi’s consort and the only one at that. On the other hand, there were more than a hundred consorts and concubines in the palace, and losing one or two wouldn’t matter at all.

The Emperor appeared to be fuming in silence at the thought of executing two of his beloved consorts. Although he was talking with Ao Chenyi about something else, everyone could tell that he was in a bad mood. It was the point that the Empress and Commandery Princess Xianyun subconsciously softened their voices during their conversation.

After a while, the Emperor and Ao Chenyi seemed to have touched an important topic and both of them left the harem for the imperial study. When Ao Chenyi walked past Ning Xueyan, he deliberately flashed her a languid smile and patted his black robe embroidered with red spider lily patterns before leaving.

As soon as the Emperor and Ao Chenyi left, the atmosphere in the hall immediately eased. Even the Empress looked more relaxed.

Ning Xueyan sneaked a glance at the Empress. It was said that the childless Empress didn’t come from an influential clan of court officials but a nouveau riche family that couldn’t even be compared to Honored Consort Ya’s family. At best, her family was on par with Honored Consort Shu’s family. Yet, those two honored consorts had given birth to princes.

Although the Empress would be promoted to the title of the Empress Dowager no matter which prince inherited the throne, would an Emperor honor his stepmother when his mother was still alive? Honored Consort Ya and Honored Consort Shu didn’t look like the type to bow to someone else. In fact, neither of them could be seen in the harem today and the Empress looked as ordinary and powerless as rumored!

Still, how could a childless woman of moderate status like her reign firmly as the Empress if she was truly ordinary and powerless? Would she really be willing to eke out a living under the nose of Honored Consort Ya or Honored Consort Shu in the future?

At that moment, the Empress noticed that she had been so engrossed in her conversation with Commandery Princess Xianyun that she had neglected Ning Xueyan. She raised her head and smiled at Ning Xueyan. “I heard that you got into an accident and fainted yesterday. Are you feeling better now? If you feel unwell, feel free to let me know.”

“I will. Thank you, Your Highness,” Ning Xueyan answered respectfully. Since this was their first meeting, she couldn’t quite grasp the Empress’ intention, so she chose to say as little as possible.