After having lunch at the Shi family house and playing with her two chubby nephews for a while, Li Huairou finally couldn’t help but take a bite of the two nephews’ plump cheeks.
The two children were stunned for a while; their reaction was a little slow. Then they cried loudly.
The nanny hurried over to take the children away and coax them.
Li Huairou was a little embarrassed. Li Huailan said helplessly, “How old do you think you are? How come you look just like a child?”
“I was just curious! I wasn’t using force,” Li Huairou replied, embarrassed.
Li Huailan took the things she’d packed. Li Huairou was stunned. “There’s so much—how could I possibly take it!”
“Isn’t there a carriage? You can send it directly to the carriage when the time comes, so you don’t need to worry.” Li Huailan thought that it was still missing something. If not for the lack of time, she would have liked to prepare more.
The sisters were talking when Shi Yong’s voice suddenly came from outside the door. “Why are Ming’er and Can’er crying?”
Li Huailan hurried over to open the door. “You’re back?”
“Mm. Why are Ming’er and Can’er crying?” Shi Yong asked with a smile. “Meimei is here?”
Li Huailan smiled back and glanced at Li Huairou. “How could they not cry? They were bitten by their aunt. They were having a good time at first, but who knew when their aunt suddenly became a man-eating monster? How could they not cry in fear?”
The nanny came out holding the children when she heard the sound of talking, and Shi Yong took a look. There was nothing on his sons’ faces. He felt reassured; it looked like they were crying not because of the pain but because of the fright.
Shi Yong smiled and told them, “That’s not good. You two are men—this lack of courage won’t do! You’ll have to practice hard when you grow up.”
Li Huailan glared at him. “You dare to scare my sons? I’ll settle the account with you!”
Shi Yong hurriedly begged for mercy. “I have a Hedong lion in this family, so I don’t dare, I don’t dare!”
[A fierce wife. The name comes from a story from the Song Dynasty]
“Stop being pitiful; you came back just in time. Go out and buy some things for me, like the sesame cakes from the He family on West Street, the Su family’s dim sum, the beef with sauce from the Wang family on East Street, and the Zhao family’s candied fruit. Buy even more. And don’t get the wrong ones!” Li Huailan pushed at Shi Yong.
“Got it,” Shi Yong answered with a grin. There was no need to ask—this must be bought for meimei. No one in their family liked to eat these.
The last time meimei came and said that the food was good, she took some back when she left.
It was said that the master ate some too.
They were good picks!
When Li Huairou had come, she’d brought many bags, large and small. And when she left, there were also many large and small bags.
Consort Dowager Hui looked at the pile of things, and her mouth twitched slightly. She walked over and randomly glanced over it. It was all food. She opened a bag of preserved fruit and tasted one; it tasted good. “Is it the same from last time? It tastes better.”
“Probably. It was my sister who asked my brother-in-law to go out and buy it,” Li Huairou said as she cleaned up.
Fang-momo couldn’t stand it anymore. This one was also a master who only knew how to enjoy her blessings. She’d started to clean up after she came back; after a long time, she didn’t clean up the whole thing. Instead, she got more and more messy.
Fang-momo stopped her. “Stop. You go and stay over there. Su Yun, come clean up.”
Li Huairou blinked, stood up, and took a package of beef with sauce from the table. “Consort dowager, this beef is delicious—try it!”
“It’s too greasy; it has to be eaten along with fruit tea. Momo.” Consort Dowager Hui habitually opened her mouth and called the momo.
Fang-momo sighed helplessly. “Su Xin, go and bring fruit tea.”
Then the master and servant sat on a table over to the side, and they chatted as they ate the beef and drank fruit tea.
Soon, the imperial carriage left Nanshan Palace.
On the day the imperial carriage left, Li Huailan held her youngest son, looked at the direction of the capital, and sighed slightly. She had already escaped from that cage, but Huairou….
The days after Huairou returned to the palace were the same as usual. It made no difference. But Li Huairou found that she seemed to have started to encounter Prince Qi more often. After discovering this, Li Huairou simply hid in Qingning Palace and didn’t go out anymore. If Prince Qi had the ability, he could try to create a few “random encounters” in Qingning Palace!
In the harem, Concubine Ling, Su Wan’er, was still thriving.
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, Consort Dowager Hui said that she was sick, and she didn’t participate. She and Li Huairou enjoyed the moon-viewing in the corridor.
As a result, an explosive piece of news broke out that night.
At the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, Consort De had drunk a few too many glasses and verbally harassed Concubine Ling. Unexpectedly, Concubine Ling was so angry that she fainted. Consort De was the birth mother of the eldest prince, and because of the eldest prince, she’d always had a good reputation in front of the emperor. Unexpectedly, this time, the emperor was furious. The family reunion dinner finally broke up unhappily.
Surprisingly, another piece of news came out soon: Concubine Ling was pregnant.
The emperor was happy, rewarded her many good things, and also promoted Concubine Ling to Consort Ling. At the same time, he gave Consort Ling’s family a generous gift, and also promoted Consort Ling’s biological mother to second-class.
In addition, Consort Ling’s birthday was in January, and the emperor threw a big event for it. For a while in the harem, Consort Ling was in the limelight.
Everyone in the palace envied Consort Ling’s grand favor.
Li Huairou also met Consort Ling several times, which was a different experience from before. Although her expression was still gentle, the joy and self confidence in her eyes could not be concealed.
Also, any woman could not refuse such sincere favor from the emperor.
What a pity. She would soon fall from heaven to hell.
However, Li Huairou didn’t plan to go to see the excitement; just listening was wonderful too.
On Consort Ling’s birthday, there was a lot of excitement, and the sound of shizu continued all day long.
[Shizu (丝竹) literally means “silk and bamboo”. It refers to stringed and wind musical instruments, with silk being the traditional material for string instrument, (like guzheng and pipa.), and bamboo being the material for traditional chinese flutes (like dizi and xiao)]
But that night, Consort Ling somehow angered the emperor, and the emperor confined Consort Ling to her residence and did not allow anyone to visit. Even when Consort Ling had a miscarriage, the emperor did not visit.
Immediately afterwards, Consort Ling’s father was framed by people who claimed that he was colluding with salt merchants to sell illegal salt, embezzling silver for river control, and other crimes. The evidence was conclusive.
The emperor decreed that he would take over and confiscate her home. It didn’t take long for news to break out that Consort Ling’s father, brother, and sister-in-law had died unjustly in prison. Her mother had committed suicide in despair, and her young nephew had contracted the plague and was in danger.
Somehow, Consort Ling learned of this news and wrote a letter of blood, begging to see the emperor. The emperor missed his old love and agreed. After that, with no idea how she had offended the emperor, she was directly demoted to a commoner and sent to the Cold Palace.
[A palace for imprisoning concubines]
When Su Wan’er was beaten into the Cold Palace, only Huixin and Lan’er were by her side. The Cold Palace was very desolate; there was nothing there, and everything had to be done by yourself.
Su Wan’er was still in confinement. Her body was already weak, and she was always sick and dizzy. Huixin and Lan’er knocked on the front door of the Cold Palace, but even though they knocked their kowtowing heads to pieces, no one was willing to ask for an imperial physician.
Unexpectedly, one night, a poisonous snake appeared in the room.
Although the snake was finally driven away, it had bitten Su Wan’er at some point.
Huixin and Lan’er had nowhere to ask to help. In the end, there was no choice, and Lan’er sucked out the venom, bit by bit. Su Wan’er was fine, but Lan’er was infected with the snake venom and passed away.
Since somebody in the Cold Palace had died, the guards were finally alarmed.
Luo Fu also quietly sent someone to bring in some things—all the things they needed at the moment.
Su Wan’er was in a coma for a few days before she woke up. After she woke up, she learned of everything that happened, and her tears rained down. Huixin endured her sadness and hugged Su Wan’er. “My lady! This slave knows that you are sad, but so long as the green mountains are preserved, there will be no shortage of firewood. You have to take care of yourself! Only if you are well will there be a day when you can rise again, and you can clear away your family’s grievances and console Lan’er’s spirit in heaven!”
[Chinese proverb to encourage a person not to give up. As long as one is ok, one can still rebuild everything]
Su Wan’er could not hear these words. Her heart had already followed after her unborn child and her siblings; what was left alive now was just a shell.
Su Wan’er was determined to die. From the day she woke up, she didn’t even take a sip of water.
Upon seeing Su Wan’er’s lips crack, Huixin was very anxious and helpless.
Until that night, someone suddenly appeared in the Cold Palace.
“Your Highness, why are you here? My lady has fallen to this point because she was framed. Now, if you are here and seen by others, my lady would not be able to wash herself clean even if we jumped into the Yellow River!” Huixin anxiously said.
“Where is Wan’er? I have something to tell her!” Prince Qi anxiously demanded, ignoring anything else.
Huixin still refused to get out of the way.
“Quickly get out of the way! I’m in a hurry—I can save her life!” Prince Qi said.
Huixin hesitated for a moment, and then she stepped aside.
Prince Qi rushed in. “Wan’er, I’m sorry. I wasn’t in the palace when you had the accident, so I couldn’t help you. But as soon as I got the news, I made arrangements. I’m telling you, Brother Wen is not dead. I asked someone to take his place, and he’s now in a safe place.”
Su Wan’er suddenly opened her eyes.
Prince Qi saw her like this, and his eyes grew red. Hurriedly, he took something out from his arms and showed it to her. “Look, isn’t this Brother Wen’s writing? Isn’t it something of his?”
Su Wan’er trembled. She reached her hand out, and when she saw that the childish handwriting on the note was indeed her nephew’s, and that the jade cicada figurine there was indeed something that she’d previously given her nephew, she burst into tears. Brother Wen was not dead! Wonderful! Wonderful!
Distressed, Prince Qi hugged her. “It’s all my fault—it’s all my fault!”
Su Wan’er cried bitterly, finally falling asleep.
Huixin was very anxious. “Your Highness, you should leave now. This is not a place for you to come.”
Prince Qi reluctantly looked at Su Wan’er. “Huixin, what the hell is going on? It was fine before, but how can it be…”
“Someone reported that the lady was having an affair with Imperial Physician Wang; the time and keepsake was in vivid detail. The emperor was furious and made an order to interrogate the people around the lady. As a result, many of the palace officials confessed,” Huixin blankly explained.
“How could this happen?!” Prince Qi frowned. “What about Yingyue? Why did only you and Lan’er accompany Wan’er into the Cold Palace?”
“The one who had come forward to report was Yingyue,” Huixin said coldly. “If it weren’t for the fact that she was a trusted person, how could she know the lady’s whereabouts? How could she make up those seamless lies! At that time, the lady was close to Imperial Physician Wang, but it was to help the lady regulate her health! Who would have known… the lady treated her with such sincerity, but who would have thought that she was so heartless!”
Prince Qi was shocked. “Yingyue! How could it be her!”
“It was probably the Noble Consort’s hand behind this. Except for Ningyuan Hou Mansion, who else would be able to pull this off without a hitch!” Huixin said angrily.
Prince Qi closed his eyes tightly and opened his eyes after a long time. “Take care of Wan’er. If you are lacking something, this prince will find a way to send it in.”
Huixin shook her head. “Your Highness doesn’t need to take risks. This slave and Luo Fu have a little bit of friendship. Luo Fu will find a way to arrange people to send those things in. He is a person by the emperor’s side; he has experience in this aspect. If others find out, they would only think that the emperor still had a heart for the lady. But you are different. For the lady’s sake, you should be more cautious!”
Prince Qi’s expression was a little ugly. Huixin saw this and added a few more words: “Luo Fu cannot help with the outside affairs, so I will have to ask Your Highness.”
Prince Qi nodded. “I will. Take good care of her.”
After speaking, Prince Qi hurriedly left the Cold Palace.
