“King Chu, you don’t have to apologize. It’s my fault. I mentioned the former Consort Chu…” Mo Xuetong tugged at Feng Yuran’s robe. Her eyes had turned a little red and were filled with tears. There were still tears on her long lashes. She looked pitiful and aggrieved. She bit her lips and pulled at Feng Yuran’s robe, looking as if she wanted to settle the matter peacefully.
Consort Chu was on the floor and her beautiful face grew ferocious as she gritted her teeth in hatred. In the meanwhile, Consort Xuan, who would rather suffer than cause trouble was gentle and gracious. Everyone immediately understood that the arrogant Consort Chu had caused trouble. King Chu’s former wife was her elder sister. Why was she not willing to mention her sister now that she had become Consort Chu?
She appeared to be close to her sister in front of others in the past and now it turned out to be fake. She was a hypocritical woman who didn’t care about family affection. She even envied a dead person who was her elder sister…
“Alright, stop it. Go and help Consort Chu up. How old are you? How could you make trouble? You haven’t grown up yet and still have a childish and short temper. You should watch the occasion.” The Empress finally spoke. She looked at Mo Xuetong and a sharp glint flashed in her eyes as she spoke to the palace maid by her side.
It sounded like she was reprimanding Ling Rui’er, but in fact, she was saying that Mo Xuetong had intentionally made Ling Rui’er angry. Ling Rui’er had a childish temper, so she flew into a rage because of Mo Xuetong’s provocation.
The Empress said that for Ling Rui’er’s own good. However, Ling Rui’er was furious and there was a wedge between her and the Empress, so she did not believe that the Empress would help her. Furthermore, in her direction, Mo Xuetong looked pitiful, but there was a hint of a provocative smile on her lips. She could not calm down no matter what.
After the palace maid helped her up, she pushed the maid to the ground. Then she pointed at Mo Xuetong’s shy face and was about to scold her. She did not treat the Empress seriously at all, which made the Empress so angry that her face paled. The Empress’ fingers trembled and she almost could not hold back her anger.
Ling Rui’er wanted to scold her. However, as her eyes met Feng Yuxuan’s cold gaze, her anger immediately subsided. She opened her mouth and felt that she was the one who felt the most aggrieved. However, everyone had helped Mo Xuetong to bully her. She stomped her feet and wanted to run away.
“Rui’er, don’t fool around. This is the palace.” The Empress could not keep the smile on her face any longer, but she still forced a smile and said coldly. She hated Ding General Manor for marrying Ling Rui’er to King Chu’s Manor as she witnessed what she was doing. As the noble Consort Chu, she had lost her manners. If Ling Rui’er were to run out of the hall now, she would make the entire Ding General Manor lose face.
When Ling Rui’er noticed the Empress’ stern and cold expression, her mind cleared no matter how insensitive she was. Especially when Feng Yuxuan came over to hold her hand, looking as if he were being intimate with her, he had actually pinched her forcefully. A gut-wrenching pain came from her hand and her entire arm was so numb and painful that she could not feel anything at all.
“Rui’er, come and apologize to Consort Xuan.” Feng Yuxuan’s smile was gentle, but his eyes looked indifferent, and there was clear disgust in them. If not for the fact that he needed the help of Ding General Manor, he would not have tolerated this stupid woman. She had done something so rude in front of all the noble families in the court. Ling Rui’er was getting more and more stupid.
“Rui’er, no matter what happened between you and Consort Xuan, you are at least the eldest sister-in-law. You have to take good care of your younger sister-in-law.” Consort Su waved her fan as she helped Ling Rui’er out. Her words were extremely smooth, as if as the eldest sister-in-law, it was nothing for Ling Rui’er to apologize and make everyone feel more harmonious even if she had been wronged.
“Yes.” Ling Rui’er came back to her sense. Looking at Feng Yuxuan’s expression that was as cold as ice, she did not dare to say anything else. She had acted so violently earlier because she was too angry. Now that she understood where she was now, she realized that there was no one standing on her side, including Feng Yuxuan whom she cared about. Of course, she did not dare to do anything else and could just follow Consort Su’s words.
Furthermore, compared to the Empress, Ling Rui’er trusted Consort Su even more. After all, she was Feng Yuxuan’s birth mother. Of course, she would rather offend the Empress than offend Consort Su.
“Consort Xuan, it’s my fault. I thought of Second Sister and became too excited. Please forgive me, Consort Xuan.” Ling Rui’er gritted her teeth and forced a smile on her face. She gave a bow to Mo Xuetong.
“Consort Chu, you don’t have to be so polite. It’s all my fault!” Mo Xuetong sighed deeply and coughed in a low voice. She seemed to want to stand up with the help of her maid. However, she was not in good health, and she struggled and used up all her strength. She fell heavily again. Fortunately, Feng Yuran was quick to help her, so she didn’t fall to the ground.
Feng Yuran hugged Mo Xuetong and covered her face with a handkerchief. Looking at her pale face and touching her head, he asked Mo Ye anxiously, “Where’s the pill?”
“Here.” Mo Ye hurriedly took out a small jade bottle. She poured out a semi-transparent pill and handed it to Feng Yuran.
Feng Yuran took it and skillfully picked up a cup of tea from the table. He placed the pill into Mo Xuetong’s mouth and poured some water into her mouth. Mo Xuetong swallowed the pill and water before she closed her eyes powerlessly in Feng Yuran’s embrace.
Feng Yuran held Mo Xuetong in his arms and asked anxiously, “Your Majesty, Tong’er isn’t feeling well. Is there a place to rest?”
“There seems to be a warm room ahead. Eighth Brother, you can take Consort Xuan over there to rest,” said Feng Yuxuan, who was familiar with the imperial garden, after thinking about it.
A warm room close to the imperial garden? The Empress’ heart skipped a beat when she heard Feng Yuxuan’s words. There was a ruffian called Ma Er there. If Mo Xuetong went there alone, she would just fall into the Empress’ trap; but it would be bad if Feng Yuran went there with her. Given Feng Yuran’s character, if he discovered that there was a man in the warm room, he would definitely make things known to the Emperor.
The Empress’ grip on the armrest tightened and she felt anxious. However, she looked up and pretended to think for a while before saying, “I advise you to go to the warm room over there. It is a little far away, but it is well ventilated. Judging by how Consort Xuan seems, it must be because there are too many people, and she is tired because of her poor condition. King Xuan, why don’t you walk further over there so that you can find a comfortable place?”
“Over there?” Feng Yuran frowned slightly. His long and narrow eyes shone with light. He looked impassive, but he raised his eyes full of inquiry and suspicion.
The Empress grew weirder when she saw the suspicion on Feng Yuran’s eyes. She had hidden a man in the warm room, and if it was exposed, it would be hard to explain clearly. Furthermore, she could not say that the man was here to frame Mo Xuetong. She would not be able to defend herself then. How could she not be anxious at this point?
No matter how anxious she was, she did not show it on her face. Instead, she nodded with a smile and said, “You should give priority to Consort Xuan’s health.”
She implied that if King Xuan didn’t care about Mo Xuetong’s health, he could choose the one closer to them, and that if he cared about her health, he could only go to the warm room far away.
Everyone knew that Feng Yuran doted on his little wife. However, even so, the Empress still heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Feng Yuran taking Mo Xuetong in his arms and moving towards the direction she pointed out without saying anything else. She felt fortunate that Feng Yuran did not insist on going to the warm room that was close to them.
The Empress’ gaze landed on Yan Miao when she saw Feng Yuran leaving with Mo Xuetong in his arms. She only relaxed when she saw that Yan Miao nodded calmly. She lowered her head and hid the viciousness in her eyes. It seemed that the ruffian could not stay any longer. She would get someone to bring him to the lake later and make him drown there.
If there was one unknown man in the harem, she would, at most, be accused of mismanagement.
But it was less of a responsibility than getting involved with a man or bringing him into the imperial palace.
After this incident, the Empress had made up her mind to get rid of Ma Er. But it never occurred to her that Ma Er would come before she could get rid of him…
Feng Yuran held Mo Xuetong and found the warm room. When the palace maids and eunuchs guarding the warm room saw them coming, they hurriedly asked someone to fetch hot water and make tea. Then they left at the door and guarded outside the door. Mo Ye sensibly went to wait at the door.
In the warm room, looking at Feng Yuran with a cold face, Mo Xuetong pulled at his sleeve, pouted, and said coyly, “Sit down and let’s have a talk. I can’t see your face and it’s so tired to stretch my neck.”
“You also know that you are tired? Didn’t you not know about pain just now?” Feng Yuran snapped. However, he followed her gesture and sat by the bed. There was a hint of coldness in his handsome eyes that seemed to be on the brink of a storm.
“I know. It’s alright. She just hit me a little. It’s not too painful. My skin isn’t good and it’ll turn red once it is touched. It isn’t serious actually.” Mo Xuetong knew that he was angry. She could avoid Ling Rui’er’s slap but she didn’t avoid it and deliberately taken it. She pulled at his robe sleeve and leaned into his arms.
Of course, she did it on purpose. There were quite a few people who had gotten into trouble today. First, it was Consort Zhao, and then it was Ling Rui’er. The Emperor or someone else might be involved. If nothing had happened to her, it would be a little abrupt. So she just took Ling Rui’er’s slap and let everyone think that she had been injured. Anyway, she was still in poor health a few days ago, so it was normal that she couldn’t get up now.
“It really doesn’t hurt. Feel my face, it’s not that hot,” Mo Xuetong said in a tender voice as she held on to Feng Yuran’s hand to put it on her face. “I’m so afraid of pain. How could I allow Ling Rui’er to hit me? Don’t worry. Ling Rui’er is the one who feels painful.”
Feng Yuran’s anger immediately dissipated when he saw she looked at him lovely with her watery eyes, and there was confidence and dependence in him in her eyes. He almost could not control himself when he saw the red mark on Mo Xuetong’s face.
“If you make yourself hurt again next time, you’d better stay in the manor and not go anywhere,” he said seriously.
“Okay, okay, okay. I will not take actions rashly, okay?!” Mo Xuetong nodded continuously like a puppy when she saw that Feng Yuran was no longer angry. There was a hint of joy in her crystal clear eyes.
The last trace of anger in Feng Yuran’s pretty eyes disappeared as well. He reached out to pat Mo Xuetong’s beautiful hair, feeling heartbroken for this silly girl who had made herself hurt because she was afraid that others would suspect him, and now, she was making an alibi with him.
This was the woman he had wanted to protect and also the woman who had loved him. She could be happy because of his joy and be angry because of his anger. Feng Yuran’s cold and ruthless heart softened when he saw her gentle smile. He reached out and held her tightly in his arms. Then, he kissed her lightly on her lips…
As their room was filled with peace, the imperial garden was buzzing.
