The guards escorted Consort Dowager Hui to Nanshan Palace to escape the summer heat.
Li Huairou went to live in the Shi family house for half a month, as usual, before returning to the Summer Palace. The empress dowager, the emperor, and the empress were not there. In this palace, Consort Dowager Hui was the most superior; the master and servant wandered around the palace. Today, they were rowing a boat on the lake to admire flowers, and tomorrow, they would go fishing and have a barbecue by the lake.
Even though she was at the Summer Palace, news from the palace kept coming.
The noble consort had angered the emperor for unknown reasons and was grounded in her palace by the emperor. At this moment, the noble consort’s father, Marquis Yongning, had been censured. It was said that he had colluded with the enemy before the battle.
The emperor ordered Marquis Yongning to return to the court to defend himself. As a result, on the day the imperial decree was issued, Marquis Yongning committed suicide in fear of sin. He was convicted.
When Marquis Yongning died, the tree fell and the monkeys scattered, and Marquis Yongning immediately became a heap of loose sand.
[When the boss falls from power, his lackey disperse]
The noble consort learned the news. With disheveled hair, she ran to Yilan Palace to petition the emperor, begging the emperor to return her father’s innocence. Unexpectedly, the crying was so loud that it scared the dragon and phoenix babies, and they immediately started crying and had a high fever that night.
The emperor was distressed, and his original three degrees of anger became seven degrees. He ordered for the noble consort to be dragged back to the palace.
Above the court, with the downfall of Marquis Yongning, the number of players who turned against Marquis Yongning also increased.
The emperor ordered the Three Divisions to conduct a thorough investigation. As a result, Marquis Yongning’s charges were confirmed, the family was seized, the property was confiscated, and he was demoted to a commoner.
The emperor remembered his many years of love with the noble consort. He didn’t intend to implicate her. Who would imagine that Concubine Luo would suddenly come out to testify that the noble consort was responsible for Concubine Chang’s miscarriage. In addition, many old things about the noble consort were also dug out. It involved many concubines and heirs; the noble consort was even suspected to be involved with the death of Empress Xiaoyuan.
The matter involving Empress Xiaoyuan was the most unbearable for the emperor. Immediately, he made an order to demote the noble consort to a commoner and banish her to the Cold Palace.
The day the noble consort entered the Cold Palace, she dashed her own head against the wall and died.
The last person she saw before dying was Consort Rong.
A consort had said that she was just thinking about past friendships, and she’d given something to the former Noble Consort Qin, who was now a commoner. The object had been checked by the guards, and there was no problem.
The empress dowager once suspected Consort Rong for the noble consort—no, the Commoner Qin incident. But after thinking about it carefully, she felt that it was not Consort Rong. Commoner Qin’s loss of favor could have been orchestrated by Consort Rong, but the destruction of Yongning Hou Mansion was not something that Consort Rong could have done alone. Consort Rong’s clan had been destroyed, and there was no one in the court. It was impossible!
As for who was behind the scenes, the empress dowager had a guess. She could only secretly scold a few idiots!
Su Wan’er actually felt strange—how could things go so smoothly? After her first child was gone, she knew that if Yongning Hou Mansion did not fall, no matter what the noble consort did, nothing would happen. Although she had found a mistake this time to incriminate the noble consort, she’d never thought about bringing her down with a single blow.
Who knew it would be so coincidental that, at this juncture, Marquis Yongning had actually colluded with the enemy! The gods had really helped her too!
As for the death of the noble consort, it was very simple. Su Wan’er just revealed to her the reason why she hadn’t gotten pregnant in these past years.
Although the noble consort was vicious, she was sincere to the emperor. It was a pity that the noble consort, like her, had been truly disappointed and exploited. Their sincerity was just a joke.
How could such a proud woman like the noble consort accept this fact? She could only kill herself by dashing her head against the wall.
When the news of the noble consort’s death got out, Consort Dowager Hui was in the middle of enjoying the flowers and drinking with Li Huairou under the moon. Upon hearing the news, Consort Dowager Hui smiled and said to the messenger, “I know. Go back now!”
“When the noble consort entered the palace, she was a woman as bright as a spring flower. It was a pity that she didn’t meet the right person,” Consort Dowager Hui said with emotion.
“That’s wrong. In the beginning, the consort dowager was also in the same situation, but the consort dowager doesn’t resemble the noble consort—the consort dowager is still herself. It can be seen that this has nothing to do with the environment and the right person. The key is in the person herself!” Li Huairou exclaimed.
After hearing this, Consort Dowager Hui was a little proud. “You are right!” Of course she was a hundred times smarter than the noble consort. Look at what her life was like, and then look at what the noble consort’s life was like. It wasn’t that she was praising herself; the whole palace was full of intrigue, and who had such a happy life as hers!
“Come, let’s toast!” Li Huairou raised her glass.
Consort Dowager Hui smiled and clinked the glasses together, then drank from it, refreshed.
Seeing the wind was strong at night, Fang-momo went back to get her cloak. But after a while, she saw those two drunks arguing while pointing at the moon. One said that the moon was like an egg yolk, and the other said that it looked like a mirror. After seeing her, they pulled her arms from both sides to have her make a judgment.
Fang-momo wanted to roar up to the sky, but she could only endure and drag the two drunks back, together with the palace people, to wash and change their clothes.
Day after day, some moths came out.
Seeing that autumn was approaching, Consort Dowager Hui lived well in Nanshan Palace, and she didn’t want to go back. There was no one in the palace to urge her.
Later, she learned that the emperor had thought about the position of empress, and he’d even had a dispute with the empress dowager. Consort Dowager Hui was happy when she saw the empress dowager deflated, so she quickly asked someone to inquire.
It turned out that the third princess was jealous of the dragon and phoenix babies’s being favored, and when she was visiting them, she’d secretly pinched her younger siblings. The dragon and phoenix babies cried in pain. Who would have thought that the emperor had come in and looked straight ahead? The third princess’s hands were still pinching the babies.
The emperor loved dragon and phoenix babies the most; when he saw that, he felt distressed and unbuttoned their clothes. He saw that their skin had turned green, showing how strong the third princess’s pinches were.
The emperor was furious. On the spot, he slapped the third princess and scolded her.
The third princess had never been so wronged before. Ashamed and annoyed, she turned around and ran away. The emperor was even more angry when he saw that she was so ignorant of etiquette. He scolded the empress a lot, thinking that the empress hadn’t taught the third princess well.
The empress felt distressed for her daughter, and she was anxious, saying something about the eccentricity of the concubines and the emperor. The emperor was furious, and during the quarrel, the empress’s hand unconsciously ran across the emperor’s face, and his face was scratched.
The emperor covered his face and walked away, determined to abandon the empress.
Although the empress dowager knew that it was the third princess’s fault, she only thought that the people around the third princess had taught the third princess badly.
As for the empress, it was just an unintentional mistake. How could it become so serious as to discharge her?
Afterwards, the emperor insisted on impeaching her, arguing with the empress dowager.
The empress dowager moved her anger to Consort Rong, thinking that Consort Rong had instigated it.
Consort Rong did not argue, only kneeling in front of the empress dowager’s palace to plead guilty. Consort Rong stayed on her knees as the empress dowager refused to see her. It wasn’t until the dragon and phoenix babies started crying because they couldn’t see their mother, and the nursing momo couldn’t comfort them, that the emperor was alarmed. The emperor knew that Consort Rong had been kneeling in front of the empress dowager’s palace for two hours.
Consort Rong had knelt for two hours. Her knees were swollen, and she couldn’t stand up.
The emperor immediately took Consort Rong away.
On the second day, after the emperor directly made a decree to impeach the empress, Consort Rong became a noble consort and took care of the Sixth Palace.
When the empress dowager saw the emperor act first and report afterwards, she immediately fell ill from her anger.
The emperor took advantage of this opportunity to directly take the Phoenix Seal and move the empress to Jiaolu Pavilion after the impeachment. After the impeachment, the dust settled.
[The Phoenix Seal represents the supreme power of the empress. Only with the Phoenix Seal may an empress be in charge of the harem]
Jiaolu Pavilion was the place where the first emperors and concubines lived in their later years, and it was actually not much different from the Cold Palace.
After the empress dowager learned the news, it was too late, so she could only take the third princess to her palace. The third princess was no longer cheerful, and she became gloomy because of the aftermath. The empress dowager was worried.
Consort Dowager Hui sincerely sighed, “Lady Su has good methods!” She was not reluctant to let the child catch the wolf!
Li Huairou also nodded. “It has always been the case for great things since ancient times.” Wu Zetian cruelly strangled her daughter to save her position of empress, and she didn’t expect Lady Su to be any better!
[Wu Zetian was known as China’s first female emperor. She was considered one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history due to her strong leadership and effective governance]
“It’s also to blame the empress dowager herself. After a long time of peace and relaxation, no one was available at this time.” Consort Dowager Hui shook her head and smiled. How did the scheming of the empress dowager when she was young fall into such a field? It didn’t matter that there was no one to use from the previous dynasty, and even her control of the harem was gone. Too arrogant! She really thought that you could sit back and relax after becoming the empress dowager? Look, retribution was coming!
“Consort dowager, shall we go back? If we go back, I will go to my sister’s house to stay for a few days,” Li Huairou suddenly asked while Consort Dowager Hui was still thinking about Lady Su.
“Why go back? Maybe I’ll have to listen to the empress dowager’s nagging when we go back. Anyway, no one is rushing me, so let’s continue to live in Nanshan.” Consort Dowager Hui replied, returning to her senses.
Li Huairou let out an “oh”. It was fine if they didn’t have to rush back; they’d just play for a few more days.
Who would guess that the plan could not keep up with the changes.
Who knew what the emperor was thinking, but the palace had no master at the moment, and he set up a noble concubine as the empress. The empress dowager certainly disagreed, but the emperor was obsessed—how could he listen? The mother and son had a big quarrel and broke away from each other.
The empress dowager could not persuade her son, so she could only vent her anger on Noble Consort Rong. In fact, letting Noble Consort Rong serve on the grounds of illness was actually setting rules for her.
The noble consort did not distinguish whether the illness was real, and she accepted it.
Of course, oftentimes, the noble consort did not make the rules for long. The dragon and phoenix babies would cry if they couldn’t see their mother, and the nursing momo couldn’t comfort them, and then they would alarm the emperor, and the emperor would come and take the noble consort away, and the empress dowager would be even more angry.
This went back and forth every day.
The empress dowager became more ill every day. In addition, after the impeachment, the empress became ill at Jiaolu Pavilion, and this made the empress dowager anxious. With a heart full of sorrow with no one to talk to, she finally remembered Consort Dowager Hui.
The emperor, with the help of Su Wan’er’s reminder, remembered that Consort Dowager Hui was still in Nanshan Palace. Thinking that Consort Dowager Hui would have to attend the ceremony afterwards, he ordered the consort dowager to return to the palace.
Li Huairou didn’t have time to say anything, but she hurriedly sent a message to Li Huailan, and she was then squeezed into the carriage going back to the palace.
Consort Dowager Hui avoided her gaze. “Don’t look at me. It’s not that I don’t keep my word, but they asked me to go back.”
Li Huairou wailed, “I planned to go back and stay at my sister’s house for a few days and have fun with Minghua and Canhua!”
“It’s alright, there will still be a chance in the future. We will come again next year,” Consort Dowager Hui comforted.
Li Huairou’s purpose in this life was to have fun, and she quickly put these unhappinesses behind her. She pondered for a while, and her eyes brightened. “Consort dowager, when we come next year, we will make a spot in the pool and swim!”
Consort Dowager Hui was a little moved. It wasn’t impossible. “Okay. I’ll talk at that time.”
Fang-momo sat next to her, pretending that she was a deaf and mute and could not hear anything. Usually, the whimsies of this master and servant were her responsibility in the end.
Not waiting for Fang-momo to relax, Li Huairou and the consort dowager started to pester Fang-momo on each side. “Momo!”
Fang-momo was covered in goosebumps. “I know, I know!”
Upon seeing Fang-momo agree, Consort Dowager Hui, along with Li Huairou, let go of her hand with a smile, and they went to have a snack and a chat.
After returning to the palace, Consort Dowager Hui became the empress dowager’s mood disposal bin again. “Listening to her complaints all day makes me feel depressed. She actually wanted me to persuade the emperor not to establish her as empress. What does who the emperor chooses as the empress have to do with me? Why should I take all this muddy water?!”
Consort Dowager Hui complained as soon as she came back, and Fang-momo hurried forward to comfort her. Beside her, Li Huairou was giggling.
Outside the hall, Su Wan’er stopped. “Go back, it probably isn’t a good time for the consort dowager right now.”
Huixin nodded, and she helped Su Wan’er go back.
Su Wan’er sat on the sedan chair with a smile on her face. In this palace, there was no one more transparent than the consort dowager. Only a transparent person could live so comfortably. There were too many restrained women in this palace, and it was rare to have such a comfortable person around. Although she was envious, she also wanted to protect this comfort.
Regarding the case of the empress dowager’s objections being invalid, Su Wan’er became the empress, and three months later, her son became the crown prince.
After Su Wan’er became the empress, she was quite virtuous. She also had a good eye for beauty. She discovered many beauties with both beauty and temperament, and she thus arranged the life of the emperor in a rich and colorful way. Satisfied, the emperor praised the empress for her virtue more than once in public.
For the concubines in the harem, Empress Su was obviously more virtuous than the abandoned empress. Not only did she not stop them from going to bed, she also didn’t stop them from getting pregnant and having children. Of course, the assumption was that you had the ability to protect your children.
Su Wan’er was the empress for two years, and the emperor added three princes and five princesses.
The name of the empress’s virtue was well known in the harem.
After hearing about the news, the abandoned empress in the Jiaolu Pavilion was angry, and she soon died of illness.
The third princess was heartbroken when she heard that her mother had died.
One month later, Empress Su suddenly vomited blood after drinking some horseshoe soup given by the empress dowager. After being rescued by the imperial physician, she was safe, but the child she was carrying was gone.
The emperor was furious, and after checking, he found out that the empress dowager hadn’t given the empress any soup at all. But the third princess had disappeared.
Finally, the third princess was found hanging from a beam at Jiaolu Pavilion.
When the empress dowager heard the bad news, she couldn’t get up at all, and she went along with the third princess.
After hearing the news, Consort Dowager Hui spent half a bowl of rice on a sad evening.
After the empress dowager passed away, Consort Dowager Hui was the elder of the highest generation in the palace. At the beginning of the new year, the emperor gave Consort Dowager Hui the honorary title “Noble Consort Dowager Xiaohui”.
[Xiao (孝) means filial piety]
In the beginning of spring, the newly established Noble Consort Dowager Xiaohui proposed for her to go to Nanshan Palace for permanent residence.
The emperor didn’t want to agree, but he agreed with the persuasion of Empress Su. It was just that the corresponding treatment of the noble consort dowager was still the best.
In the second year, the noble consort dowager and Li Huairou lived at Nanshan Palace, and Consort De suddenly reported that she had witnessed a private meeting between the empress and Prince Qi.
After the emperor had a close talk with Prince Qi, in order to protect Su Wan’er, Prince Qi stated that he had feelings for the empress, put all the blame on himself, drank poison, and died.
It was said that Prince Qi’s death was particularly painful. It was not an instant death, but a full three or four hours of pain before he died. When the servant sorted out Prince Qi’s body, he found that Prince Qi’s hands were bloody, and there were traces of bloody handprints on the ground. The scene was tragic and abnormal.
After the death of Prince Qi, nobody knew where the body was buried. Some said his bones had been burnt into ashes and scattered..
After hearing this, Li Huairou happily drank a jug of wine and then sang to the moon for the whole night. She woke up the next day and couldn’t speak. The noble consort dowager laughed for an entire month.
When Li Huairou returned to the palace again, the emperor died, and the new emperor ascended the throne.
The consort dowager had become the Imperial Noble Consort Dowager Xiaohui. Li Huairou said that this title was awkward, and the consort dowager herself felt so as well. After attending the new emperor’s enthronement ceremony, Imperial Noble Consort Dowager Xiaohui and Empress Dowager Su bid farewell.
Empress Dowager Su laughed and personally ordered someone to escort the imperial noble consort dowager to the palace.
Since then, Li Huairou never returned to the palace. She’d been with the imperial noble consort dowager, and she sent away Fang-momo, the imperial noble consort dowager, her sister, and her brother-in-law, one after another.
When Li Huairou died, her nieces, nieces-in-law, and granddaughters knelt on the ground for her.
Li Huairou felt that she had no regrets in her life, and she closed her eyes with a smile.
