But the Emperor did not expect this to happen. He had thought that Mo Xuetong might have something to do with it, and he felt a little angry with her. But she was now in tears and trembling, but she took the initiative to take punishment. The Emperor thought she did not look guilty. His eyes deepened for a moment.
“Your Majesty, it is Consort Xuan who contradicted Her Majesty. I saw it very well from the side.” You Yue’e judged that her chance had come. She couldn’t wait to come up to greet the Emperor, and reported to him.
The maids and nannies standing beside the Empress nodded their heads, adding fuel to what the Empress said from time to time, as if Mo Xuetong had come to annoy the Empress on purpose.
A teardrop ran down Mo Xuetong’s delicate face and she said sadly, “Your Majesty, though I am young, I know that the Empress is both my elder and the most honorable person. I just asked Her Majesty why she didn’t punish Consort Yan but punished me to kneel. It was my sister who died… I only said these words, and what you saw happened!”
She seemed to be defending herself, but she did not blame the Empress. Yet the people in the palace were so clever that they could certainly hear from what she said that the Empress was deliberately insulting her. It was the Empress who disliked her at first sight and took it out on her. This thing happened in King Yan’s Manor, so if someone was punished to kneel, it was supposed to be Consort Yan. Why did the Empress ask the irrelevant Consort Xuan to kneel? Besides, she even did not allow her to ask about her sister’s death. The Empress was too partial.
At her words, the Empress and her maids and nannies were dumbfounded. The Empress paused for a moment and then realized that Mo Xuetong was reporting to the Emperor that she had been made to kneel. Immediately, the Empress’s astonishment turned to anger. Mo Xuetong was reversing right and wrong. Just now she was quite disdainful of the Empress, but now she dared to pretend to be innocent in front of the Emperor.
The Empress pointed at Mo Xuetong with trembling fingers and said angrily, “Consort Xuan, you don’t have to do that. Just now you challenged me, and Consort Yan and my maids and nannies can testify. Are you trying to cheat everyone?”
“Your Majesty, I do not know what I have done to offend you, causing you to try to do anything to kill me…” Mo Xuetong looked so sad. Tears were falling out of her beautiful eyes. She clapped her hand over her chest and felt the suffocation as it rushed up and down. She could hardly act. She struggled with the discomfort in her chest and grew paler.
“Well, this is full of Her Majesty’s people. Her Majesty is all in favor of Consort Yan’s wife. No matter what I say… no one will testify for me. That’s it. I have nothing to say. You’re always… right, Your Majesty!” Mo Xuetong looked unwell and almost fell down while holding the table. Her pale, bloodless face added to the impression that she had been wronged beyond measure. She held her chest as if she were too angry to finish her words.
She meant, of course, that the Empress’ palace was full of her people, who obeyed her with all their heart and soul, and that You Yue’e was the one the Empress wanted to protect, and of course would listen to the Empress.
Her words almost made the Empress fall down in anger. If she had known Mo Xuetong would bite back, the Empress would have asked more people to stay so they would know what Mo Xuetong said. At this time it looked as if she united with You Yue’e to bully Mo Xuetong.
“You’re lying. You have just spoken against the Empress.” You Yue’e still insisted, wanting to prove Mo Xuetong wrong. Noticing that Mo Xuetong was still pretending to be weak, she stepped forward and gave her a big push to show the Emperor that Mo Xuetong was acting.
However, when her hands touched Mo Xuetong, Mo Xuetong could not hold on any longer, and You Yue’e’s strength seemed to be the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Mo Xuetong gave a low cry, and blood ran down the corner of her closed mouth. Unable to stand, she followed You Yue’e’s strength and fell back…
Fortunately, a maid standing behind Mo Xuetong was quick. Perceiving her condition, she immediately reached out to support her. Seeing the blood on the corner of her mouth, she exclaimed. “Consort Yan has beaten Consort Xuan into bleeding.”
Before she finished speaking, Mo Xuetong fainted in her arms.
Emperor Zongwen looked at You Yue’e with a gloomy face, and coldly commanded. “Take an imperial physician here, quickly.” Immediately, someone went out to look for the imperial physician.
Being stared by Emperor Zongwen, You Yue’e felt cold all over the body. With a sudden flop, she fell on his knees as a cold sweat broke out on her forehead. “Your Majesty, I didn’t. I just touched her. She… she was faking it. That’s not true. Mo Xuetong framed me up on purpose. Before she sent people from the Mo Manor to make trouble in the King Yan’s Manor, and now she’s set me up.”
Emperor Zongwen’s eyes were so cold that she lost her sense of proportion, and felt that the cold in the Emperor’s eyes almost penetrated her. She just wanted to defend herself. She had been noticing Mo Xuetong’s reaction. First she barbed at the Empress, and then she played weak in front of the Emperor. You Yue’e felt that she must be pretending now.
At this time, she just wanted to tear Mo Xuetong’s trick, so that the Emperor could see her craftiness with his own eyes. That was why she did it.
A cold sweat began to break out on the Empress’ head. If something went wrong with Mo Xuetong in her palace, the Emperor would never spare her. And the lawless Feng Yuran, who could not be persuaded and was protected by the Emperor, would have turned her Tianfeng Palace upside down.
The Empress now regretted it. She should have punished You Yue’e instead of calling Mo Xuetong over. She failed to ask Mo Xuetong to plead guilty. She now just hoped she wouldn’t get into trouble again. Today’s Tianfeng Palace was very busy. People kept coming, and now even the Emperor was here. Also, Mo Xuetong was not doing well.
“Your Majesty…” At the moment, she came to herself. Realizing that something wrong could not happen to Mo Xuetong here, she directed her maids to help Mo Xuetong to lie on the inner couch. Then she returned and said to the Emperor, “I didn’t know Consort Xuan was not feeling well. She didn’t say anything about it when she was sitting there just now. If I had known she was not well, I would not have asked her to come on purpose.”
“Empress, did you give her a chance to speak?” asked the Emperor in a cold voice, sitting down on a nearby chair, not looking at the worried Empress.
His words struck the Empress dumb. The Empress wore an aggrieved look on her face and wanted to say something, but Emperor Zongwen waved his hand and pointed to the sweating imperial physician who just ran over. With a sulky look, he took a sip of the tea the maid had brought him. He was not going to talk to the Empress, so he didn’t make her look good.
The Empress resented in her heart, but she had to stand by. Now that the Emperor did not allow her to sit down, she could not sit down at will even in her palace.
“You said Consort Xuan faked it, in order to intentionally frame you?” The Emperor looked down at You Yue’e kneeling on the ground and asked, his face not revealing his emotions.
You Yue’e said it in an urgent moment of inspiration. The more she thought about it now, the more she realized what she said was right. Mo Xuetong was a crafty person. She must have faked it this time, or it wouldn’t have been so coincidental—as soon as her hand touched her, she threw up blood and fell down. It must have been planned. When things got to this point, it must be Mo Xuetong’s secret plan.
At this time, when Emperor Zongwen asked her about it, she immediately kowtowed to him and answered, “Your Majesty, Consort Xuan was capricious before. She not only disrespected the Empress, but also maligned King Yan’s Manor. What happened at the King Yan’s Manor must have been instigated by her. Otherwise, how could it have happened like this? Now she is framing me. Please give me justice, Your Majesty.”
She could not believe such a coincidence.
The Emperor’s eyes flashed like lightning. He coldly stared at her for a while, and suddenly asked, “What if Consort Xuan really fainted?”
“That’s impossible! I only touched her. She must have been faking it,” You Yue’e said firmly as her eyes were tearful. She didn’t want to let go of Mo Xuetong. The Empress, standing nearby, looked a little alarmed. She was not You Yue’e, and had just stood beside Mo Xuetong to see the blood she could not help spitting out and her pale and weak face almost immediately lost its color.
It was impossible to fake an expression like that. Besides, here was the palace, where had superb imperial physicians. Mo Xuetong couldn’t be so ignorant that she would dare to pretend to be in poor health in the Tianfeng Palace and get herself into trouble.
When she heard You Yue’e’s affirmation, she broke out in a cold sweat. She secretly winked at You Yue’e, but the latter was now preoccupied with dealing with the Emperor, so she did not see the Empress.
“What will you do if she is really ill?” Emperor Zongwen’s face was cold and gloomy.
“I, I…” You Yue’e stammered, unable to say anything.
“Your Majesty, here comes the imperial physician. Would you like to inquire first?” The Empress pointed to the imperial physician, who came out in a hurry, and suddenly raised her voice.
Emperor Zongwen’s eyes darted from You Yue’e to the Empress. The Empress could not help but lower her head, her forehead slightly sweaty.
“Say it!”
“Yes, Your Majesty, Consort Xuan is weak, and the outside is a little hot. Consort Xuan has some body heat. Coupled with mood swings, she could not stand it, and thus suddenly vomited blood and fainted,” the imperial physician immediately reported honestly. In fact, there was something weird inside Mo Xuetong. She seemed to be injured, but the imperial physician could not diagnose it at the moment.
“Do you mean that Consort Xuan really vomited blood and fainted?”
“Yes, of course. Consort Xuan is weak and can’t stand too many mood swings,” replied the imperial physician while kowtowing.
“You go and get the medicine filled!” said the Emperor lightly.
“Yes.” Since Emperor Zongwen no longer asked, the imperial physician hurriedly withdrew. The strangeness about Consort Xuan’s body seemed to be due to poison, but the imperial physician could not check it out. Since the Emperor did not ask, he did not dare to stay. He hurried to go out to prepare a cool-natured potion for Mo Xuetong.
The Emperor sneered, looked at You Yue’e, and slowly asked, “You Yue’e, what do you say?” His face had darkened even more.
“No, that’s impossible. She’s faking it, she must be faking it…” You Yue’e had heard the imperial physician’s reply. Looking at the Emperor’s cold face, she felt a surge of cold rising from her heart, like gangrene attached to the bone. The sweat had seeped through her dress. She knelt and did not dare to move but pleaded in panic.
“Somebody, pull her down.” The Emperor did not give her more opportunities to defend herself.
Two guards came from outside the door and dragged her out without mercy. You Yue’e wanted to argue, but the guards did not care about who she was and took her away.
Seeing You Yue’e was pulled away, the Empress grew anxious and hurriedly said, “Your Majesty…”
The Emperor did not have the patience to talk to her, and in a cold voice, he asked, “Empress, do you also think Consort Xuan was malingering?”
“I… I dare not!” Emperor Zongwen’s cold stare made the Empress anxious and afraid, but she had to say. King Yan was her only hope. If something happened to You Yue’e in her palace, there was bound to be a rift between Feng Yulei and her. Besides, she had to concern about Duke Mingguo.
“Although Consort Yan and Consort Xuan are at loggerheads, she didn’t cause Consort Xuan to faint. She… she doesn’t deserve it.”
“Have I condemned her to anything? Why did you jump out immediately now, but you were not so kind when she testified against Consort Xuan?” The Emperor did not say anything more to the Empress, but got up and ordered people to bring down the Empress’ couch and carry Mo Xuetong back to the King Xuan’s Manor.
The Empress was speechless and worried. When she saw You Yue’e outside the door, who was detained, but was not taken away, she was relieved. Until the Emperor left the Empress’ Tianfeng Palace, eunuchs came over to announce an imperial decree, which said that You Yue’e failed to protect the royal children or manage King Yan’s concubines, causing the King Yan’s Manor’s back yard to have several accidents, so her crime was not small!
