It was very quiet outside the yard. Concubine Qin wore a light purple dress that was made of one of the 10 kinds of brocade. It made her look both unobtrusive and voluptuous, adding to the beauty of her delicate face. She stood in the shadows outside the yard and her eyes, which had always been proud, were not calm. She frowned slightly and waited quietly under the tree.
At this time, the moon had risen into the sky, but it was not bright tonight. The air was a little dull, as if a heavy rain was coming. It was a summer day with changeable weather—it could be sunny for a while and the next second thunderous.
A room in the yard was very lively. From time to time, women’s exaggerated charming laughter could be heard. It didn’t make people happy at night, because it sounded fake. Since Concubine Xiang was carrying King Xuan’s child, no one in the yard was really happy.
“What? Are you feeling uncomfortable? You must haven’t expected that Concubine Xiang was the one who hid the deepest and was carrying His Highness’ child quietly. She will be promoted because of her child. Do you feel jealous of her?” A woman’s voice came from behind. Concubine Qin turned around and mocked, “Concubine Yun, you must be the most disappointed person!”
“Me? How come? I’m just the most common concubine in the manor. I don’t dare to expect His Highness to pay much attention to me, let alone to be pregnant with his child. There are so many women in the manor, and all of them are staring at His Highness and even trying to make him their own. So I’d better hide from you!”
Under the shadow of the trees, Concubine Yun was shaking with laughter, as if Concubine Qin had said a big joke.
Concubine Qin did not speak, just looking at Concubine Yun quietly with deep sarcasm in her eyes. The sarcasm made Concubine Yun unable to keep the smile on her face. She felt a little embarrassed, and had to pretend to ignore it. She sized up Concubine Qin, covered her mouth with her handkerchief, and asked, “Why didn’t you do anything today? I heard that today’s events happened one after another in the yard. You were right beside Her Lady at that time. Didn’t you want to push her into the water?”
“Don’t you hope that I can swallow my pride and be more clear-headed to see my situation and seek profit for myself?” Concubine Qin said calmly. “Those two took actions, but they both failed even though they had elaborate plans. If I took action on the spot, there would have been no way back. How could I be all right?”
“What are you afraid of? Isn’t Concubine Xiang all right?”
“She?” The corner of Concubine Qin’s lips curled up. “If His Highness really values the child in her belly, Concubine Xiang would have been promoted to a higher position in front of Her Lady early in the morning.”
Her words sounded a little ironic and disdainful. “She framed Mo Xuetong today. In front of so many people, Mo Xuetong naturally wouldn’t say anything. No matter what, she had to pretend to be a gentle and virtuous consort. But what will happen afterward? Even if Concubine Xiang gives birth to the eldest son of His Highness, he will be taken away. Maybe Concubine Xiang will lose her life by then. Now Mo Xuetong just spared her life for the sake of the baby in her belly.”
Concubine Qin had been standing on the side when the incident happened. Even though she had covered her face and tried to sweep those hornets for a long time when the nest fell, she had been stung by them on her wrist. She had not been able to see the scene clearly although she had kept an eye on the spot. It had happened too quickly and she only noticed that Concubine Xiang and He Yufen attacked Mo Xuetong at the same time.
Initially, she thought it was Mo Xuetong who had fallen into the lake, and she was secretly pleased with it. No matter who pushed Mo Xuetong into the lake, it would be beneficial to her. Later, she could reveal what He Yufen and Concubine Xiang had done. Then both of the two women would be punished. She would be the largest mistress in the manor then. She could seize the opportunity when King Xuan was upset and then become the new Consort Xuan based on her status that was higher than Mo Xuetong’s.
At that time, she even deliberately moved aside so that He Yufen could avoid detours and directly reach Mo Xuetong. She even blocked the sight of Mo Xuetong’s maidservants. With her “unintentionally” blocking in front of them, even if these maidservants found something wrong about Mo Xuetong, they would not be able to save her in time.
It looked like she didn’t do anything, but she actually did!
As a noble lady with both talent and beauty in the capital, how could she stand being a humble concubine? In the past, she had been waiting because Feng Yuran did not have a wife. But now that Feng Yuran had a wife, she could not bear it. She had always thought that she was the best candidate for Consort Xuan.
Mo Xuetong’s status could not be compared to hers at all. She did not even deserve to be one of her servants.
What made her have King Xuan and become Consort Xuan?
Of course, Concubine Qin did not want to talk to Concubine Yun about these things too clearly. Even though Concubine Yun had enlightened her and helped to come up with an idea, it made her wary of Concubine Yun. She used to only know that Concubine Yun was one of Feng Yuran’s favorite concubines and was usually rather arrogant amongst his concubines. However, she had become demurer and more sophisticated after Mo Xuetong entered the manor. It made others feel suspicious of her.
“Since you didn’t take action this time, you’ve lost too many good opportunities. Otherwise, you may be the hostess of this manor!” Concubine Yun sighed, seeming to feel pity for her.
“What do you want me to do?” Concubine Qin asked lightly, as if she didn’t want to talk about it.
Concubine Yun didn’t push her. She cast a light glance at her and pointed to the room where some people were talking and laughing from time to time. “There is the mother of the future eldest child of His Highness in the room. Why don’t you go there and have a look? Mother can be promoted because of her child. Maybe Concubine Xiang will make a good showing and give birth to a son. Maybe by then, she will be the second consort.”
Was she telling her that Concubine Xiang was likely to be her biggest opponent? However, Concubine Qin never thought highly of her.
“Does she also want to be the second consort?” Concubine Qin sneered. “Since she dared to frame the first consort in front of so many people today, Concubine Xiang, that stupid woman would never become the second consort in her life.”
It was a big crime to frame the first consort, but she easily escaped it. On the surface, it seemed as if Mo Xuetong had been greatly wronged. Furthermore, it happened in her birthday banquet. As such, Feng Yuran brought her to the West Hill Yard as soon as the banquet ended. It was a form of compensation for Mo Xuetong.
Mo Xuetong was in Feng Yuran’s good graces right now. Concubine Qin was certain that it was self-defeating about what Concubine Xiang had done. If a concubine without title dared to do something like that, she would create chaos in the future after she gave birth to King Xuan’s eldest son.
She might not be able to survive the birth. Furthermore, even if she really gave birth to a son, King Xuan would take the child away without hesitation when Mo Xuetong said that she wanted to raise him. After all, she had suffered earlier and was Consort Xuan. It made no difference to Concubine Xiang whether she had a son or not. If she wanted to be promoted depending on her son, she had to be fortunate enough.
Concubine Qin really didn’t like Concubine Xiang. She had been waiting for several months. If she kept on enduring for a period of time, Concubine Xiang would give birth after nine months’ pregnancy. If it was a son, Feng Yuran would give her a high status because she had been bending over when she was pregnant. After all, if the eldest son’s mother had a low position, it would be bad for the child.
Of course, this had to be based on the fact that Concubine Xiang had not made any big mistakes.
“You met me just to let me fawn on Concubine Xiang?” Concubine Qin looked at Concubine Yun unhappily and raised her chin slightly. Whether in the past or now, she was much better than Concubine Xiang.
“Of course not. When I went out of the manor today, I saw the carriage of your Duke Wanping at the gate of an ornament store. I also saw a beautiful young lady. I heard the maids call her Second Miss. She was dressed in luxurious clothes and had a noble temperament, similar to you. I thought she was your Second Sister, so I came up to her and wanted to talk about you, but was pushed away by her maids. I failed to send the thing you asked me to bring to your father last time.”
As she speaking, Concubine Yun took out a paper envelope and handed it to Concubine Qin. She said with admiration, “Speaking of your Second Miss, she looked so gorgeous that I can tell at a glance that she is a noble lady. It’s just that the status of a concubine like me is too low, so her maids didn’t let me get close to her.”
The Second Miss of Duke Wanping’s Manor dared to push away the people she sent?
Concubine Qin gritted her teeth and a flash of anger appeared in her eyes. There was also a hint of hatred in her eyes. A concubine’s daughter who used to be around her and flatter her dared to ask her maids to push away the one who sent a letter for her. How dare the bitch think that she was too low to be a concubine?
She planned that when she made contact with her father and explained her ideas to him, she would let the bitch marry a servant of the lowest rank. That bitch thought of herself as noble and looked down on her? Concubine Qin felt stuffy in her chest. The person who had been trampled on by her in the past had dared to look down on her. She, who had always thought highly of herself, was unable to bear it.
“Concubine Qin, why don’t you go out and give it a try yourself?” suggested Concubine Yun with a smile.
Concubine Qin took the letter and saw that it was still tightly sealed. She frowned and said, “How can I go out of the manor at will!”
“Why can’t you? You can dress up as a maid and say that you’re the maid of a concubine in the manor and want to buy some cloth and food. As long as you give some money to the two old maidservants at the back door, it’s easy for you to go out.” Concubine Yun giggled and said indifferently, “Today I went out of the manor in this way. Nobody knows. I heard that His Highness will not come back these days and accompany Her Lady. So there is no master in the manor. It’s easier to go out!”
“Is it easy to cope with the old maidservants at the back door?” Concubine Qin was tempted. She really had something to tell Duke Wanping. In order to get a higher position, she had to contact her father. But in the past, she had sent her maid who came from Duke Wanping’s Manor to try it, but the maid said that the back door was heavily guarded and did not allow anyone to go out without a token.
She had wanted to send a letter to her father, but it would be even better if she could see her father directly. There were some things that were inconvenient for her to say in the letter.
“It’s not difficult anyway. I’ve already gone out twice. No one made things difficult for me.” Concubine Yun smiled and took out a few handkerchiefs from her pocket and handed them to Concubine Qin. When the latter touched it, she found that they were soft. It was obvious that they were made of good material and they were brand new. “I brought these from outside today. I’ll give them to you since there are a few more here. You’ve been in the manor for a period of time and haven’t gone out yet.”
Then, she politely extended her hand to Concubine Qin, seemingly trying to butter up to her. Concubine Qin harrumphed coldly and pushed her hand away proudly. She said lightly, “I don’t want them. Don’t worry. You can come to me if you need anything in the future, but you don’t have to send me these unnecessary things.”
After saying that, she turned away without looking at Concubine Yun.
At this moment, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. Under the shade of the trees, the humble and ingratiating expression on Concubine Yun’s face gave way to a sneer and gloom…
