“Rui’er, why are you here in this dress?” Looking at her dress, the Empress frowned. Ling Rui’er’s outfit was extremely inappropriate—she was just a concubine and she could not wear it.
Ling Rui’er looked up at the Empress and asked, “Aunt, Your Majesty, why can’t I come here in this dress? Now that You Yue’e can wear it, why can’t I?”
“She is Consort Yan. Of course she can wear it.” The Empress really got annoyed now. None of these women would make her free from worry. She thought it would be easier to deal with Mo Xuetong alone, but suddenly Ling Rui’er arrived. What was going on here? However, she couldn’t drive Ling Rui’er away. Last time, the Empress failed to help her keep the position of Consort Chu, and her two brothers had already complained about her.
“I’m Consort Chu, so why can’t I wear this?” Ling Rui’er glared at You Yue’e as if she were still Consort Chu. Her words nearly threw the Empress backward. Looking at Mo Xuetong sitting down, the Empress felt the veins on her forehead beating violently.
What was this about? The one who was supposed to make trouble was quiet, while the one who should not was shouting.
You Yue’e was a proud person. She had always been the one who looked down upon others, and she would not allow others to look down upon her. If Ling Rui’er were Ling Fengyan, You Yue’e might look up to her. She didn’t like Ling Rui’er, who was an incapable person. She, too, was irritated. “You’re no longer Consort Chu. Concubine Ling, as a concubine, how dare you wear Consort Chu’s formal dress? Aren’t you afraid of your head being cut off or your family being destroyed?!” she sneered.
She was so furious that she had forgotten that Ling Rui’er and the Empress belonged to the same clan.
“You Yue’e, you killed a concubine and a maid who was pregnant with King Yan’s child, but you are all right, and can still wear Consort Yan’s dress. Why can’t I? At least I killed two fewer people than you did. Just because my maidservant accidentally bumped Second Consort Mo, how could you say that I murdered the royal child and degrade me to be a concubine?”
Speaking of this, Ling Rui’er suddenly felt that her behavior was not excessive. Just like what Mo Xuetong said, she was really wronged. Several days ago, her father and uncle scolded her and told her how to be a wife. At that time, she had regrets, now only to find that compared with what You Yue’e had done, her behavior was really not serious.
“Ling Rui’er, you’re lying!” You Yue’e snapped.
“What am I lying? Let the Empress judge which of us has made the bigger mistake. I just accidentally bumped into a concubine, resulting in her miscarriage, but you secretly designed, and framed a second consort for an elopement, resulting in her death and a bad reputation. The maid who was pregnant with King Yan’s child had a miscarriage, and she did not survive. You Yue’e, you can’t be so naive as to think you’ll be all right this time.”
You Yue’e was speechless. Ling Rui’er became prouder, and her words grew sharper. Her main purpose of coming here today was to deal with You Yue’e. At this time, she found that You Yue’e was speechless with a livid face. She immediately felt comfortable. When they were both prince’s wives, why was she punished, and You Yue’e was okay?
There was a point to make her jealous—when she caused trouble, the Empress not only did not help her, but also secretly hurt her, but when it came to You Yue’e, the Empress even wanted to intervene to help her. This was why she came from Ding General Manor. She would never let them get away with it. From the letter of Feng Yuxuan, Ling Rui’er felt that the Empress was on the opposite side. If the Empress had not done something behind the scenes, she would not have lost her position as Consort Chu.
So, today she was here to stir up trouble!
And now she was doing it without shame…
“Ling Rui’er, you’ve gone too far. How dare you say such a thing in front of Her Majesty?”
“It’s better than you hurting the royal blood. You Yue’e, don’t think Her Majesty will let you go. I just accidentally hurt a consort, Her Majesty punished me, her niece. What if you are Consort Yan?”
“You…”
“What’s wrong with me? Are you at a loss for words? Look, you’re the most vicious woman. King Yan probably has regretted marrying you long ago. If he had married my sister, he would not have…”
“Silence!” snapped the Empress, taking a cup of tea at hand and throwing it at Ling Rui’er’s feet. Ling Rui’er stopped talking at once, looked at the Empress in bewilderment, and cried out. “Aunt, Your Majesty!”
“Aren’t you going back? Somebody, take… take her to the side hall and undress her.” The Empress was already trembling with anger at Ling Rui’er’s bold tongue. She didn’t know what to teach her, so she sent for someone to drag her out and change her clothes. She was not Consort Chu anymore, and if she continued to wear this dress, she would definitely cause trouble for the Ding General Manor.
Seeing two maids come over to pull her, Ling Rui’er was still unconvinced, pointing to You Yue’e and cursing. “No, Aunt, Your Majesty, I won’t go. Why can she be here and I not?”
The Empress did not want to say much to her now but waved her hand and two of her maids came forward, seized Ling Rui’er’s arms, and pulled her to the side hall.
When Ling Rui’er’s voice was gone, the Empress took a deep breath and turned to Mo Xuetong.
During the whole process, Mo Xuetong didn’t say a word, but just watched Ling Rui’er and You Yue’e’s quarrel leisurely. As she found that the Empress looked at her, Mo Xuetong smiled, and then looked straight at the Empress, as if she did not see the Empress’s red eyes and ferocious face which were due to anger.
At the moment, her smile was like a challenge to the Empress. Just now, the scene of Ling Rui’er’s embarrassing fuss was like a severe cut on the dignified face of the Empress, while Mo Xuetong’s smile seemed to tell the Empress that she had seen the disgraceful state of Duke Ding.
“Consort Xuan, you have to be careful in the palace. How can you laugh so casually? Now you are in my palace, if you are in other palace, how will other imperial concubines look at you and King Xuan? Nanny Lin, go and teach Consort Xuan manners, lest she lose face for King Xuan.” The Empress flew into a rage and could not keep her smile. Under the stimulation of Mo Xuetong’s smile, her suppressed anger bursting out immediately.
Nanny Lin knew that the Empress was trying to teach Mo Xuetong a lesson, and she immediately responded. “Yes, Your Majesty!”
With that, she walked away from the Empress to instruct Mo Xuetong in the etiquette.
Mo Xuetong simply stood up and looked askance at Nanny Lin who was coming. She smiled coldly, her eyes holding a bit of arrogance. Then she looked up, smiled at the Empress, and said, “Your Majesty, don’t you always dislike me? Are you trying to teach me a lesson? Well, Your Majesty, if you want to punish me, do you need an excuse? In that case, you don’t need another excuse, just punish me. Anyway about my fourth sister’s death, with your protection, Consort Yan will not be in trouble. Now that I can’t get justice for my fourth sister, I deserve it even if you beat me nearly to death.”
Then her eyes grew cold, and she looked straight at the Empress, not with fear, but with contempt.
Her words seemed to add fuel to the fire. The Empress was so angry that she strode down from the high platform, raised her hand, and tried to slap Mo Xuetong in the face. “You are a little Consort Xuan. How dare you talk to me like that? Somebody, slap her, slap her hard,” she cried in a harsh voice.
She was really mad at Mo Xuetong now.
Mo Xuetong turned her head to avoid the Empress’s slap. She looked at the Empress and then at the maids and nannies standing behind her. A sardonic sneer crept into the corner of her lip, a disapproving look on her face. Obviously, she was saying in silence that the Empress’s behavior was unseemly and indecent.
The Empress looked at Mo Xuetong, her eyes red with anger, and cried out. “Somebody, come on, hold her down; slap her, slap her.”
You Yue’e was conscious at that moment. Finding the Empress too angry, she wanted to persuade her but dared not. For a moment she did not know what to do.
The nannies around the Empress had done many such things. Several people went over and expertly pushed Mo Xuetong down. Nanny Lin went over and tried to reach out and slap Mo Xuetong in the face. However, when she saw Mo Xuetong’s eyes were as cold as ice, she felt as if a cold feeling rose from her heart. Her hand froze in the air, and for a moment she did not dare to slap her.
“Slap her, slap her.” Seeing this, the Empress became even angrier. She snapped. “If you hesitate, I’ll kill you.”
“Empress, are you going to kill Consort Xuan?” A cold and sinister voice came from the door. The Empress’ ferocious face suddenly froze.
Only then did the eunuch behind her squeal. “His Majesty is here!”
Emperor Zongwen strode in and looked at Mo Xuetong coldly, who was held down by several stout maids. He noticed that her beautiful eyes were full of pity. There were two drops of tears hanging at the corners of her eyes, which made people feel that she’d been wronged. And in front of her, the furious Empress’ face was grimly evil, without the slightest dignity of the Empress. At the sight of her, he was displeased at once.
The Empress did not expect the Emperor to come at this moment. She had lost her momentum and was afraid. The angry look faded away from her face. She forced a smile and answered, “You must be kidding, Your Majesty. How dare I kill Consort Xuan? I was just trying to teach this defiant consort a lesson. She was contemptuous and despised me. I don’t want her to get King Xuan into trouble.”
With cool eyes, Emperor Zongwen turned to Mo Xuetong and asked, “Is that true?”
“Your Majesty, no matter how daring I am, I dare not talk back to Her Majesty. I just said a few words to defend my fourth sister, Her Majesty… Anyway, I offended Her Majesty. It’s all my fault. Please, Your Majesty, punish me.”
By this time, Mo Xuetong had already put on a delicate look. It was easy to see that she was the one being bullied. Compared to the menacing Empress, she looked more convincing.
In particular, she mentioned Mo Xueqiong. The cause of this incident today was that Mo Xueqiong’s mother went to King Yan’s Manor to cry. Emperor Zongwen had known that Feng Yulei had something to do with it, so instead of allowing him to argue, he simply ordered him to stay in his house. As for Mo Xueqiong, in his mind, she was also a wicked woman. He didn’t care if she was alive or dead!
