Chapter 19: Let’s Go, Time to Settle the Score for His Majesty!
Du Gu Jin was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. He felt moved by Yuan Peipei’s trust in him, yet at the same time, he was vexed by her excessive trust.
“It’s nothing. She just gave me some medicine and then lay down beside me, making me think I had touched her,” Du Gu Jin’s tone sounded like he was tattling.
Yuan Peipei was displeased. “She’s so wicked, even worse than the woman in that book.”
She pouted, her cheeks rounder with anger.
Unable to resist, Du Gu Jin reached out to poke and pinch her.
“Alright then, Peipei, go and get revenge for me. You’re the Noble Consort now, a rank above her.”
“All right!” Yuan Peipei declared solemnly and set off, followed closely by Cuizhi and Lanxin, and behind them a procession of palace maids arranged by Du Heng—the spectacle was truly grand.
But as they walked, Yuan Peipei slowed down.
“Cuizhi, what should I do? I’m so scared. When I get there, what exactly am I supposed to do?”
“Lanxin, can I not go? I’m really frightened.”
Cuizhi encouraged her, “Your Highness, you are the Noble Consort, and the Emperor himself has sent you.”
Lanxin nodded, “Yes, Your Highness. Think about it—she nearly slandered the Emperor.”
Exactly!
That woman actually tried to falsely accuse the Emperor!
Such a good Emperor, and she dared to bully him!
Summoning all her courage, Yuan Peipei quickened her pace toward the Palace of the Gentle Consort.
She wasn’t hurrying to show off any kind of authority.
It was purely because she feared that if she walked slowly, she might lose her nerve.
Along the way, palace maids and eunuchs hastily cleared a path, sensing something was amiss.
Bang!
Yuan Peipei kicked open the main hall’s door of the Gentle Consort’s palace.
Her eyes immediately welled with tears.
It hurt so much!
She wanted to cry.
No, she had to hold back.
She would cry once she got back.
“Gentle Consort! Do you realize your mistake?” Yuan Peipei pointed at her accusingly.
The Gentle Consort had just changed her clothes and was pondering when would be the right time to reveal her pregnancy to the Emperor when suddenly the door was kicked open.
“What mistake have I made?” the Gentle Consort retorted.
Indeed, what mistake had she made?
Yuan Peipei struggled to keep herself from appearing too flustered.
“I am the Noble Consort. Why did you not show me proper respect when you saw me?”
Her tone was full of pride.
The Gentle Consort had no choice but to kneel. “I pay respects to Noble Consort Roujia.”
She was about to rise again.
Yuan Peipei’s face hardened. “Did I tell you to get up?”
Clenching her teeth, the Gentle Consort knelt back down.
Yuan Peipei paced around her with her hands behind her back.
Looking down at her, she said, “While I was away, you went and bullied the Emperor! Do you know what crime that is?”
The Gentle Consort expected Yuan Peipei to be jealous but never imagined she would come directly to confront her and even punish her with kneeling.
“As a consort, it is my duty and obligation to attend to the Emperor’s needs. I do not believe I am guilty of any crime.”
Yuan Peipei stood before her, bent down and pointed at her. Perhaps caught up in the moment, her face truly radiated authority.
“But you drugged the Emperor! That’s unacceptable! And you want to claim the child in your womb is the Emperor’s? Dream on!”
The Gentle Consort’s heart skipped a beat.
How did Noble Consort Roujia know about her pregnancy?
She forced herself to stay calm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Noble Consort.”
Yuan Peipei immediately summoned someone. “Imperial Physician!”
The physician, brought by Du Heng, appeared promptly.
“Noble Consort, I am here,” he said.
Yuan Peipei straightened and ordered, “Take her pulse!”
The Gentle Consort was truly panicking now. She never expected Yuan Peipei to bring the Imperial Physician.
“My health is fine. I don’t require a pulse check… Don’t touch me!”
Two palace attendants seized her.
After checking her pulse, the physician bowed to Yuan Peipei. “Your Highness, the Gentle Consort’s pulse indicates pregnancy, over a month along.”
The attendants released the Gentle Consort, who collapsed to the floor.
It was over.
Everything was ruined.
All her schemes, which had yet to be put into motion, were thwarted by this wretched Yuan Peipei!
Yuan Peipei felt it was enough. “I’ll leave the rest to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.”
She left swiftly, and only after reaching a distance did she take a deep breath, her hands trembling as she held Cuizhi and Lanxin’s.
“I was so scared.”
“Was I too fierce just now?”
“What if I really become a fierce old woman in the future?”
That day, some saw Noble Consort Roujia storm angrily into the Gentle Consort’s palace.
Many witnessed her return to the Nizhang Palace with red eyes, crying bitterly.
Everyone assumed the Gentle Consort had bullied Noble Consort Roujia.
Unexpectedly, the Gentle Consort was soon given poisoned wine and died suddenly, officially recorded as a sudden illness.
“Waaah…” In Nizhang Palace, Yuan Peipei was still crying, “My foot hurts so much… boohoo…”
Du Gu Jin cradled her foot gently, massaging it while soothing her.
“Poor thing, it’s all because that door was too thick. I’ll immediately have all the palace doors replaced with thinner ones so Peipei can kick them as much as she wants.”
With red eyes, Yuan Peipei protested, “I’m not a fierce old woman. I wouldn’t go around kicking other people’s doors all the time.”
Du Gu Jin lifted her into his lap, gently wiping her tears with his large hand. “You’re the sweetest, Peipei. Definitely not a fierce old woman.”
Yuan Peipei was easily comforted. Just a few compliments, a little kindness, and she would be happy and content.
So she continued sitting on Du Gu Jin’s lap.
“Did the Gentle Consort confess who the father of her child is?” she asked.
Du Gu Jin shook his head. “No.”
Yuan Peipei frowned. She would have to write another letter to the Emperor.
That evening, Du Gu Jin waited purposely in the Imperial Study.
He dismissed all the surrounding guards.
Soon, a window was gently pried open, and a slip of paper was slipped inside.
Yuan Peipei lifted her skirt and tiptoed away from the Imperial Study before breaking into a run.
“I was so scared.”
“Run quickly. We must not let the Emperor find out.”
A palace attendant passing by knelt and greeted, “Your Highness…”
Before the words were finished, Yuan Peipei had vanished without a trace.
Inside the Imperial Study, Du Gu Jin held the note.
The Gentle Consort’s child was the Prince of Qi’s!
That girl even added an exclamation mark this time.
Du Heng entered and reported, “Your Majesty, the Prince of Qi requests an audience.”
Du Gu Jin placed the note with the other letters and commanded, “Summon him.”
Looking up, the smile in his eyes had completely vanished, replaced by sharpness, coldness, suspicion, and scrutiny.
Such a gaze weighed heavily on anyone who met it.
The Prince of Qi hurried in and knelt. “Your Majesty, I pay respects.”
Du Gu Jin’s voice was chillingly cold yet spoke as if making casual conversation, a bizarre and unsettling contrast.
“Prince of Qi, do you think I’m someone easily deceived?”
Still kneeling, the prince didn’t understand at first what Du Gu Jin meant.
He bowed again. “The Emperor is the Son of Heaven. To deceive you is to commit treason, punishable by extermination of one’s entire clan.”
“Indeed. But if that’s the case, why are there still so many who try to deceive me? The Gentle Consort was today given poisoned wine by my decree because she was carrying another man’s child. Prince of Qi, tell me, how should I punish her family?”