After Su Wan’er had been beaten into the Cold Palace, Yingyue was asked by the noble consort to serve at her side. The noble consort treated her like an ordinary person; deep down, Yingyue also understood that, after all, she was a traitor. Who dared to make use of her?
But she did not regret it!
The noble consort promised to let her out of the palace for as long as she wanted.
Yingyue looked for Prince Qi with joy, but Prince Qi refused to see her. He merely asked someone to bring one sentence to her: “Just pretend we have never met.”
Yingyue’s heart suddenly fell into an icy lake. Could it be that she’d been wrong? No, she was right! She just admired him! She couldn’t bear to see him being played by Su Wan’er in the palm of her hand.
She wasn’t in the wrong!
But Su Wan’er actually managed to come out of the Cold Palace! Yingyue was frightened, but she also resented the noble consort.
In fact, the noble consort also blamed herself. She hadn’t cut the grass down and pulled up the roots, but she hadn’t expected this Lady Su to be so fortunate! But what about it? In this palace, one did not only need holy favor. Lady Su was now the daughter of a criminal minister, and she didn’t even have her blood-related family. How dare Lady Su threaten her? She had Yongning Hou Mansion to back her up!
[Destroying evil, leaving no chance of revival]
When the consort dowager thought about it in this way, she temporarily left her worries behind.
In Qingning Palace, Li Huairou curiously looked at Su Wan’er. What was she doing here?
Consort Dowager Hui secretly complimented her for being able to find out so quickly. It really was a good method—such a scheming person, who could leave romantic love behind, could survive for a long time in the palace.
Su Wan’er came, just chatted a few words about daily life, drank a cup of tea, and left.
Li Huairou looked at Consort Dowager Hui. “Consort Dowager Hui, what does this mean? Is there something I don’t know? Tell me!” Li Huairou became curious and pulled at Consort Dowager Hui’s hand.
Consort Dowager Hui was disgusted, and she shook Li Huairou off. “Go and ask the momo. She knows.”
Li Huairou let go of Consort Dowager Hui and ran off to pester Fang-momo.
Fang-momo, tangled up until she felt helpless, explained, “It’s nothing, it’s just that we gave some help when Beautiful Lady Su was down—at that time, we didn’t think of her return, but this Beautiful Lady Su is a person who knows how to repay kindness. Her presence today also doesn’t mean anything else; it’s just an unspoken agreement.”
Li Huairou was a little surprised, and Fang-momo gave her a blank glance, “Otherwise, how do you think the consort dowager’s life is so happy? The first emperor’s decree can be guaranteed for a while, but it can’t be used long-term. It is better to make good connections to protect against a rainy day!” This was also the old master’s command before the consort dowager entered the palace.
[Set aside an asset with the idea of using it in future, when it is needed]
Li Huairou stroked her chin. It seemed that Consort Dowager Hui also thought that Su Wan’er had the capital to compete. Li Huairou once thought about whether to take revenge against Prince Qi; after all, because of his ambition, many people were killed. Although she was only a little palace lady, there were still many ways to expose him. For example, Su Wan’er’s dragon and phoenix fetus was a good starting point.
But now, Li Huairou felt that she had to think again.
The consort dowager was good to her. She could not act rashly—it would be bad if she disturbed the consort dowager’s plans. After all, she still had to follow the consort dowager! Moreover, there were many ways to retaliate. For example, how about giving him a little more pain when Prince Qi dies in the plot?
Prince Qi had died because of poison. This kind of poison was very toxic; it only needed to enter the throat, not even the stomach, for the person to die. Maybe I can change the poison? I’ll make his death a little bit more painful.
As for those who would mourn him after death, people died like lightbulbs, so forget about them!
“What are you thinking of?” Consort Dowager Hui asked.
“Nothing. I’m thinking about what to eat for lunch!” Li Huairou replied.
Consort Dowager Hui rolled her eyes. “Eat, eat, eat, all you know is eating. You eat so much all day, who knows where all the food has gone?”
This stabbed Li Huairou’s sore spot. She didn’t know what was wrong with this body; her Aunt Flo was here, and she had already started to develop, but she was still only a few meters tall, and her chest was as flat as an airport runway! It looked childish, without even any womanly charm.
It made her so mad.
Consort Dowager Hui looked amused when she saw Li Huairou’s pout. “Alright, alright, it’s good for you, and we can save on fabric…”
Li Huairou’s eyes widened. Was this something a human would say? “Momo, I’m going to have hotpot at noon! Make it spicy, very spicy, very spicy!”
Consort Dowager Hui cherished her skin and never ate spicy food, but when she saw other people eating spicy food, she got greedy. “It’s not winter—why are you eating hotpot? Momo, I want to eat something light at noon.”
“Why can’t I eat hot pot before wintertime? I will eat it, I’ll just eat!”
“Momo! Look at her!”
“Momo, you come to judge!”
Fang-momo had a headache because of the quarrel.
——
After that, it was almost the same as in the plot: Su Wan’er was pregnant, the emperor was overjoyed, she was promoted to noble lady, and she was then given the “Rong” title. The empress dowager was also very happy when she heard the news. The empress dowager had already thought about it—if Lady Su’s child was a prince, then he would be raised at the empress’s knee.The empress dowager never considered the consent of Noble Lady Rong.
[Rong (荣) means flourishing, blooming]
Su Wan’er felt a little panic deep down. Counting the time, she estimated that this child should be the flesh and blood of her and the prince.
Su Wan’er was both touched and worried, and she didn’t know if she should tell the prince about this. After pondering, she dismissed the idea. It was better if the prince didn’t know about this.
Huixin knew that her heart was suffering. When there was no one around, she would hold Su Wan’er’s hand and say, “My lady, there is no need to worry! The most important thing is to keep this child.”
Su Wan’er nodded. Yes, there is nothing more important than the flesh and blood in my womb.
In fact, Su Wan’er had been overly concerned. Under the double protection of the empress dowager and the emperor, she passed the early stages of pregnancy safely.
When she was four months pregnant, the imperial physician diagnosed that Su Wan’er was pregnant with twins. The emperor was overjoyed, and he promoted her to the rank of concubine. It was too late for the empress dowager to oppose it; the emperor’s imperial decree had already been issued. Seeing this situation, when Lady Su gave birth, the emperor would promote her to the rank of consort. In this way, it would be inconvenient for the empress to adopt the Su clan’s child. Could she dismiss the mother and keep the children?
Forget it. Thinking about the current, stable harem, let’s forget it!
She just didn’t expect Su Wan’er to give birth to a pair of dragon and phoenix twins. After hearing the news, the emperor was ecstatic, and he immediately promoted her rank from concubine to consort.
[Twins with different genders. The dragon symbolizes a boy, and the phoenix symbolizes a girl]
The empress dowager was a little disappointed. Dragon and phoenix fetuses symbolized good fortune, and there was no reason to raise them separately. And since Lady Su had been promoted to consort, how could the empress raise the son of someone of that rank? The emperor would not agree. She had to do away with this idea.
Although the emperor was overjoyed, he did not forget to deal with the palace lady who had made Consort Rong have a premature birth. “First, take her to the Shen Xing Division and wait for Consort Rong to wake up before dealing with her.”
In the middle of the courtyard, Yingyue, who was limp on the ground, fainted immediately after hearing this.
She really didn’t do anything. Everything had been fine! Why had that bitch, Lady Su, suddenly fallen to the ground? The bitch, Huixin, had even pointed out that Yingyue was the one who pushed her.
But the moment Lady Su fell, Yingyue knew that it was over for her. After a long period of fear, panic, and anxiety, the day had finally come.
When she received the news of Yingyue’s death, Li Huairou was in the middle of reading a letter sent by Li Huailan. The letter said that she was pregnant again, and that she, Shi Yong, Minghua, and Canhua were all looking forward to the birth of a daughter. There was a lot of subject matter in the letter, and Li Huairou read it with gusto.
When she heard that Yingyue was dead, Li Huairou’s hands shook for a moment as she read the letter, then returned to normal. She put the letter paper away and took out some pen and paper to write back to Li Huailan.
The letters were filled with family-related matters, but most of the letters between relatives were like this.
Li Huairou sighed when the letter and things were sent away.
“Huairou, the kitchens said that there is fresh venison. Little deer that are only a few months old are the most tender—let’s have a barbecue, shall we?” Consort Dowager Hui called out from the window.
“Okay!” Li Huairou put those emotions aside and turned around with a smile. “Get some more vegetable dishes. Meat is too hot.”
“You say that eating meat is too hot? How rare,” Consort Dowager Hui commented with a smile. She knew that Huairou was probably not in a good mood right now. If it hadn’t been for Huairou’s sensibility at the beginning, it would probably have been Huailan’s death instead.
“After dinner, I will take you to see the dragon and phoenix babies. I heard that the two children look exactly the same. I have seen twins before, but they were not similar in appearance.” Consort Dowager Hui smiled.
Li Huairou smiled back but didn’t say anything. That’s because you seldom see strange things. Identical twins? What’s so strange about them?
Consort Dowager Hui frowned. “I think you’re laughing at me!”
“How dare I!” How could Li Huairou admit it?
Coming out of Yilan Palace, Consort Dowager Hui was still lamenting, “They really look similar, how can they look alike! It’s so strange.”
“If you like one, then you can take a child back to raise it!” Li Huairou smiled.
Consort Dowager Hu looked disgusted. “No need! It’s fine to have fun occasionally. You want me to raise a child? I still want to live a few more years!” Dragon and phoenix babies were so cute, but they still cried and pulled at things. While teasing the children, they suddenly smelled a stench and almost vomited.
Although the nursing momo took them away in time, Consort Dowager Hui’s mind still lingered on the odor. She’d originally intended to hug them, but in the end, she didn’t dare to stretch out her hands.
Li Huairou smiled. To tell the truth, she thought that Consort Dowager Hui’s current life was very good. If there were more children, there would be more ties, and life may not be as easy as it was now.
“Will the emperor go to Nanshan Palace to escape the heat this year?” Li Huairou said, suddenly remembering.
“Probably not. Consort Rong just gave birth, and the dragon and phoenix babies are still so small. The emperor is probably reluctant,” Consort Dowager Hui replied. The emperor loved dragon and phoenix babies very much.
Li Huairou was disappointed.
“Want to go? This is easy. Tomorrow, I shall ask the empress dowager, so let’s go,” Consort Dowager Hui said nonchalantly.
“Is it possible? Is the empress dowager going to agree?” Li Huairou quickly asked.
“What can’t I do?”
The empress dowager readily agreed, and she also arranged a lot of guards to escort them.
Li Huairou suddenly remembered something. “I thought if the emperor didn’t go, we couldn’t go either. If we can just go, why didn’t you say it a few years ago!”
Consort Dowager Hui blinked and refused to admit that she hadn’t wanted Li Huairou to go accompanying Li Huailan. So she deliberately didn’t mention it. “You didn’t tell me, so how could I know! Alright, alright, go back and pack your luggage!” Then she quickened her pace and walked forward.
“You did it deliberately, right? You must have!” Li Huairou chased after her, pestering her as she walked. “Were you jealous to see that my sister and I have a good relationship?”
“You must be joking! Me, jealous—what is there for me to be jealous about!” Consort Dowager Hui refused to admit it!
“Hmph, I know it even if you don’t say it. It can’t be helped, what with me being so loveable!” Li Huairou said triumphantly.
Consort Dowager Hui couldn’t smile. “Can you be more reserved? Aren’t you like a little girl?”
Fang-momo listened to this and sighed. Saying these words, consort dowager, don’t you feel bad?
