On The Self-Cultivation Of A Favored Concubine - Chapter 62

The entire bedchamber fell into a deathly silence. Liu Qinglan’s breath hitched, her survival experience in the mountain forests told her that this was no place to linger.

Running to the window, she was about to shift into her original form and flee when she suddenly heard hurried footsteps and a commotion coming from the courtyard. Seeing the silhouette of the beautiful Empress, she felt a wave of relief. Liu Qinglan climbed onto the windowsill, found a vantage point, and began to watch the drama unfold.

Xie Xuanzhao had brought a group of people. Standing in the courtyard, she faced the Imperial guards blocking her path. Her expression was calm and indifferent, radiating a natural authority. “Eunuch De, what is the meaning of this?”

“His Majesty is currently summoning Consort Yue for the night. It is not a suitable time to disturb him,” Eunuch De said, bowing respectfully while hiding the mockery in his eyes.

Xie Xuanzhao let out a cold laugh. “If His Majesty is summoning Consort Yue, then what is the deal with this person?”

Eunuch De looked up in surprise, only to see a group of guards pushing a bruised and battered handsome man forward. He looked closer, and his face paled with horror. “This… isn’t this…”

Xie Xuanzhao stared at him. “Eunuch De, who do you say this is?”

Eunuch De remained silent.

The guard holding Lin Yulang stepped forward and roughly pulled back the long hair covering the man’s face, revealing a wretched, pale countenance. Eunuch De’s lips turned white. He looked toward the palace gates and realized the guards had already been swapped out. In a short amount of time, the Empress had replaced Lin Yulang’s men with her own. She had come prepared.

Recovering himself, he tried to remain steady. “Does the Empress have His Majesty’s verbal decree to mobilize the guards?”

“I do not.”

“Then…” Eunuch De was about to cite palace regulations when he saw the Empress’s icy gaze and stern face. Her aura was so powerful that he was frightened into silence, not daring to question her further.

Seeing his momentum wither, Xie Xuanzhao spoke: “Emergency measures for urgent matters. I have important business to discuss with His Majesty. Upon arriving, I spotted this person acting suspiciously outside the walls, like a thief, and ordered him seized. He resisted and fought the guards, which is why he was beaten to this state. I find this highly suspicious, that the guards on duty could allow a thief to enter the hall while His Majesty is with a consort is a dereliction of duty. Therefore, I have summarily replaced them. Eunuch De, you serve at the Emperor’s side. His Majesty’s safety is paramount, is it not?”

Eunuch De tried to protest, looking at the unconscious Lin Yulang with a trembling voice. “But this is no thief. This is Lin Yulang, one of His Majesty’s personal attendants.”

Xie Xuanzhao sneered. “His Majesty has many attendants, how could I know every single one? Even if it is Lin Yulang, why was he acting so stealthily? Could there be some foul play within this bedchamber?”

Eunuch De feigned difficulty. “How could there be foul play? Consort Yue is inside accompanying His Majesty. If the Empress is uneasy and insists on entering to see, I have no way to stop you.”

Xie Xuanzhao had been waiting for those words. She smiled knowingly. “Since Consort Yue is inside, I shall not disturb them. It seems His Majesty is busy. I will handle this Lin Yulang on his behalf.”

Eunuch De realized he had been led in a circle. He tried to trap Consort Yue, but the focus shifted back to Lin Yulang. Panic flared again. “This is His Majesty’s person; he should be handled by His Majesty.”

“Then I must trouble Eunuch De to enter the hall and announce my presence,” Xie Xuanzhao said nonchalantly, standing her ground to wait.

During their exchange, Liu Qinglan took advantage of the fact that everyone’s attention was on the courtyard. She slipped out the window and ran toward the Imperial Garden. Once she found a secluded spot, she shifted back into human form and walked out calmly.

Seeing a few maids tending to the plants, she approached them. They hurried to bow. Liu Qinglan smiled and said, “His Majesty sent me to pick a few flowers. Which ones do you think are the most beautiful?”

“Understood,” one maid stepped forward. “There aren’t many flowers in winter, but the Clivia under the gallery bloomed a few days ago, very elegant and quiet. A few white camellias have also opened, though we must wait a few more days for the winter plum blossoms.”

Liu Qinglan’s mind wasn’t on the flowers at all. Once the maid finished, she quickly said, “Take me to see them.”

Back at the front hall, the atmosphere remained tense. Under the Empress’s watchful eye, Eunuch De had no choice but to go to the door and feign an announcement. Silence met him from within. Eunuch De knew the Emperor couldn’t respond, but why hadn’t Consort Yue run out in a panic like a normal woman? The situation was spiraling out of his control.

Xie Xuanzhao looked at him, her red lips curling into a smile. “Eunuch De, why have you stopped?”

He could only turn back and report to the empty air again and again until his throat was dry and his mind was numb.

Liu Qinglan returned holding a pot of Clivia. Standing at the door, she asked with feigned curiosity, “What is going on here?”

The eunuchs looked at her as if they had seen a ghost. “You… aren’t you…?” Weren’t you supposed to be inside?!

The commotion at the door alerted those in the courtyard. They saw the young woman in her palace dress, holding the flowers, walking toward them gracefully. Xie Xuanzhao looked at her with relief. Seeing her unharmed, her heart finally settled.

Eunuch De’s shrill voice rang out, “Consort Yue! Weren’t you supposed to be serving His Majesty? Why are you here? Where is His Majesty?”

Xie Xuanzhao’s eyes sharpened. “She is Consort Yue. It is not the place of a dog like you to question her.”

Eunuch De realized his slip in his panic and knelt immediately. “This servant dares not.”

Liu Qinglan took her place beside the beautiful Empress, feeling emboldened by her support. “His Majesty suddenly wanted to admire flowers, so I went out to find some. I didn’t expect things to be like this when I returned. Empress, what happened?”

Xie Xuanzhao pointed to the unconscious Lin Yulang. “This man was acting suspiciously and refused to say what he was doing in the hall, so he was apprehended.”

Liu Qinglan looked surprised. “Isn’t this Lin Yulang? His Majesty said he was punished and expelled from the palace as a commoner. Why is he still here?”

“Exactly,” Xie Xuanzhao followed up. “He must have been unwilling to leave and tried to sneak back into the hall with ill intent.”

Liu Qinglan hammered the final nail: “That must be it.”

Eunuch De was dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected the Consort and Empress to be in such perfect sync, their stories fitting together without a gap. Before he could object, Liu Qinglan let out a sudden startled cry, jumping as if she’d just remembered something.

Everyone knew Consort Yue had a flighty personality, so her dramatic reaction seemed natural. She lifted her skirt and said, “His Majesty is still waiting for my flowers! I’ve been gone so long; I don’t know if he’s grown impatient.”

As she spoke, she pushed the doors open. Eunuch De’s heart leaped into his throat. Once those doors opened, there was no turning back.

Liu Qinglan endured the sudden stench of blood. Standing at the threshold, she closed her eyes and shouted, “Quickly, summon the Imperial physicians!”

Even those several feet away smelled the thick copper scent. An uproar ensued. Xie Xuanzhao immediately ordered the hall sealed, no one in or out. She ordered Lin Yulang taken to the dungeons.

Eunuch De’s legs gave out. With his men replaced, he was powerless. He was so broken he didn’t even notice the Empress pulling the Consort into her arms to comfort her.

Xie Xuanzhao held the little beauty’s hand. “Sister, you’ve been frightened. This has nothing to do with you.”

Liu Qinglan was actually fine, she’d only been startled by the blood but she leaned into Xie Xuanzhao anyway, seeking a bit of warmth.

The physician arrived, pulled back the curtains, and saw the Emperor, red as a cooked shrimp, lying by the bath. After the examination, the physician stepped out, trembling.

Xie Xuanzhao sat at the head of the room with Liu Qinglan at her side. Facing the guards and the shaking eunuchs, she dismissed everyone except the physician and Liu Qinglan. “You may speak.”

Knowing the Empress had the power of the Xie family behind her, the physician knelt and sobbed, “His Majesty has passed!”

“The cause?”

The physician glanced awkwardly at Liu Qinglan. She straightened her back, finding his gaze strange, and glared back. The physician lowered his head. “His Majesty passed… from excessive pleasure.”

Xie Xuanzhao snorted, her face a mix of mockery and resignation. “Doctor Wang, Lin Yulang attempted a rebellion and assassinated His Majesty in the hall. His Majesty was stabbed in the chest and bled to death because the guards failed to protect him. His Majesty has fallen.”

Doctor Wang’s breath hitched. He remained motionless on the floor.

“Doctor Wang, do you understand?”

“Yes… His Majesty died of a knife wound!” Doctor Wang shivered and complied.

Once everyone left, Liu Qinglan sat down to calm her nerves. The fear finally caught up to her. She moved closer to the Empress, feeling the other woman’s warmth. “That felt like a dream.”

Xie Xuanzhao squeezed her cold hand. “Qinglan, you did well. They didn’t suspect a thing.”

“Is the Emperor really dead?”

“When I saw Lin Yulang’s expression, I knew he had succeeded. That smell of blood… it must be related to the evil spirits from Qingfeng Town. We tried to warn him that day, but he was blinded by lust and wouldn’t listen. It was his fate; we were powerless.”

“Is it over then?”

Xie Xuanzhao’s expression turned solemn again. She shook her head. “Not yet. The new ruler is undecided. Before the young Prince enters the palace, we must keep the death a secret to avoid panic.”

“But the little Prince doesn’t seem to want to be Emperor,” Liu Qinglan said worriedly. “And he has his mother. Is it right to separate them?”

Xie Xuanzhao sighed, stroking Liu Qinglan’s hair. “He is the son of Prince Ding, of the Imperial bloodline. Making him the child Emperor is the only way the officials will be convinced. It will stabilize the people and prevent a bloody power struggle.”

Liu Qinglan found it complicated, but she supported the Empress completely.

The head of the Xie family entered the palace secretly to confer with Xie Xuanzhao. They decided to execute Lin Yulang in secret, withhold news of the death, and summon the Prince.

During their discussion, Liu Qinglan was sent back to her palace. Her maid, LuLu, didn’t know the Emperor was dead, only that there was trouble. She checked Liu Qinglan for injuries. “My lady, did Lin Yulang really try to rebel?”

Liu Qinglan nodded solemnly, then drifted into a daze. She wondered what would happen to her and the Empress now. In human terms, the Empress would become the Empress Dowager… but what about her?

As she worried, a peach blossom drifted down, signaling her to find the Peach Blossom Spirit.

Liu Qinglan told LuLu she needed to rest, then shifted into her original form. she flew to the Imperial Kitchens and landed on a peach branch.

The spirit’s voice came from the depths: “Eat that peach.”

On the branch hung a ripe, large, bright red honey peach.