Chapter 3602: The Most Favoured Woman in the Inner Palace (21)
Chapter 3602: The Most Favoured Woman in the Inner Palace (21)
Ao Tianze’s expression told Ning Shu that if she misspoke even once, Consort Xuan would serve as her cautionary tale.
Ao Tianze was simply here to vent his frustration. Evidence? What was that even supposed to be?
Ning Shu adopted a look of deep sorrow and shook her head. “Your Majesty, I have never harbored such thoughts. I have no children of my own, so I hoped more than anyone that my sisters in the inner palace would expand the imperial line for you.”
“The empress is truly this emperor’s ‘good’ Empress, then. Are you saying you knew nothing of Lady Min’s situation?” Ao Tianze took two more steps toward her. Ning Shu retreated twice.
Ao Tianze said coldly, “Why are you retreating, Empress? Do you have a guilty conscience?”
Ning Shu: …
“What does Your Majesty want me to say? Should I say I killed the child in Lady Min’s womb?” Ning Shu looked up at him. “Your Majesty, you may investigate this matter thoroughly. If it has anything to do with me, I will voluntarily step down. I would be unworthy of being the empress of this nation.”
“Do you think I don’t dare to do anything to you?” Ao Tianze’s expression was hideous, and his towering rage was terrifying to behold.
Ning Shu replied, “I know Your Majesty is grieving, and you are the emperor, so you can do whatever you wish. However, it is simply that Lady Min’s misfortune has nothing to do with me.”
Ao Tianze’s face twitched. He stared at Ning Shu with a vicious, resentful gaze. He felt as though his reign as emperor was a pathetic one.
An emperor should look down upon ten thousand people kneeling before him. He should point at the mountains and rivers to command the land. He should have three thousand beauties in his inner palace and receive tribute from all four directions of the realm. He should be the embodiment of power, wealth, and majesty. Yet he couldn’t even protect his own child.
Ao Tianze clenched his fists inside his long sleeves. Looking at Ning Shu’s face, he felt a desperate urge to strike her as well.
“What kind of empress are you? One disaster after another occurs in this inner palace. If you don’t want the position, I don’t mind finding someone else,” Ao Tianze said through gritted teeth. “All these tragedies in the inner palace are the result of your incompetence.”
“I am indeed incompetent. I shall await Your Majesty’s disposal.” Ning Shu didn’t let his bark bite. Did he really think he could scare her with a few shouts? If he wanted to remove her as empress, he should just do it instead of all this posturing. He was clearly just trying to intimidate her.
Her submissive appearance did nothing to soothe Ao Tianze’s temper. Instead, it made his anger burn even hotter, making his very organs ache with a fire that had no outlet.
“The empress is confined to Jiaofang Palace. Without this emperor’s command, she is not permitted to take a single step outside her courtyard.”
Ao Tianze whipped his sleeves around and stormed out.
Ning Shu bowed. “I respectfully see Your Majesty off.”
“Your Highness.” Xi’er looked at Ning Shu. “What should we do? Lady Min miscarried, and immediately afterward you were placed under house arrest. People outside who don’t know the truth will surely say you caused the miscarriage.”
Ning Shu didn’t care much about being confined. She was worried about something else. She feared Ao Tianze would use this incident to ‘cleanse’ the inner palace and conduct a massive purge.
She sat down and took a sip of tea.
Xi’er looked dejected. “Your Highness, I have a bad feeling about this.”
It was indeed bad. It felt like the calm before a devastating storm.
Ning Shu went to the side hall to see Consort Xuan. The woman was huddled on the bed, sobbing. There was even a dusty footprint on her clothes.
“Your Highness.” Consort Xuan’s personal maid bowed to Ning Shu while looking worriedly at her weeping mistress.
Ning Shu walked over. “Are you all right?”
“Your Highness!” Consort Xuan looked up. Half of her face had ballooned. Five deep purple finger marks were bruised into her skin, creating a jarring contrast with the other gaunt side of her face. The sight gave Ning Shu quite a shock.
Ning Shu closed her mouth, which had hung open for a moment. “Have the physician bring some medicine. Get a physician for your mistress immediately.”
“Yes.”
“Your Highness, I feel so wronged,” Consort Xuan stammered. Every time she spoke, the movement of her face caused such pain that she couldn’t even keep her own saliva in. She looked utterly pathetic.
“I have also been placed under house arrest, so we are both suffering. You have only been struck. I fear some people may lose their very lives.” Ning Shu sighed. “There is no use crying over being hit.”
It was completely futile.
Consort Xuan pounded her own chest. “I feel so stifled!”
“Everyone in this inner palace is stifled. Stop crying. If you cry, the babies will start crying too. The Emperor already dislikes them. You shouldn’t put yourself in the line of fire right now.”
Consort Xuan closed her mouth and started hiccupping. Tears kept falling, and her disheveled hair was stuck to her swollen face. She looked like a complete wreck.
The maid who had gone to fetch the physician returned, looking miserable. “Your Highness, the courtyard has been surrounded. We cannot get out.”
“Oh, I forgot. I am under house arrest.” Ning Shu had assumed Ao Tianze was just speaking out of anger, but he had actually stationed guards at the door.
“Have the female physician get you some medicine to rub on,” Ning Shu told Consort Xuan. “Since I cannot leave, you should return to your own palace. That way, you can still keep track of what is happening in the rest of the inner palace.”
“I understand.” Consort Xuan took a deep breath. “Jixiang, do my hair.”
Once a man started getting physical, you could no longer expect him to love or cherish you. Even if Consort Xuan wanted to keep deceiving herself, she simply couldn’t do it anymore.
The guards tried to stop her as she left, but Consort Xuan barked at them, “I am Consort Xuan. Are you going to stop me from returning to my own palace? The emperor ordered the empress to be confined, not me.”
The guards looked at her swollen face and then at each other. Ultimately, they let her force her way out.
Consort Xuan seemed much more spirited now than she had while wallowing in self-pity. When one finally saw reality for what it was and let go of expectations, one often became stronger.
Ning Shu stayed with the two children, rocking their crib. She knew she had to guard them closely during this time.
Now that Fu Min had lost her child, Ao Tianze might decide to finish off these two.
If they died in her palace right after the miscarriage, no official in the court could stop the emperor from deposing her. He would label her as an evil empress who lacked virtue and failed to set an example for the women of the realm.
Ning Shu’s face turned cold. She had to kill Ao Tianze soon. If this continued, she wouldn’t be able to keep her position. Even though Ao Tianze was currently suffering from his ‘weakness’ and was addicted to elixirs, he was only in his twenties. He had a strong constitution, and it wouldn’t be possible for him to die in just a day or two. She couldn’t afford to outwait him.
That night, Ning Shu had the martial arts maid stand guard by the bed. She placed the two babies on her own bed so they would be right next to her.
Ning Shu didn’t sleep. Instead, she released her spiritual energy to shroud the entire courtyard. If anyone approached, she would know instantly.
In the middle of the night, the courtyard was deathly silent. Suddenly, masked shadow guards dressed entirely in black slipped into Ning Shu’s palace.
Ning Shu opened her eyes in the darkness. This inner palace was truly Ao Tianze’s personal fish pond, and the concubines were nothing more than fish on a chopping block. He could kill them whenever he pleased, and the women of the inner palace had no way to fight back.