Chapter 3
Chapter 3
I didn’t take Consort Shu’s words to heart. For all her sharp tongue, that was all it was-talk.
Li Yi was no slave to lust. The court was well governed, and he knew how to recognize and employ capable people. Even though he favored Concubine Zhen, he had not lost his head and done anything that violated ancestral law.
As for Consort Shu’s claim that he had spent an entire month sleeping in one concubine’s palace, I found it even more ridiculous.
She didn’t understand Li Yi. If he truly cared for someone, he would never make such a spectacle of his favor and turn her into a target for the entire harem.
Besides, I couldn’t be bothered to remonstrate with him over something like this and invite his displeasure, even if that was supposedly the duty of a “virtuous empress.” Emperor and empress-the emperor always came first, and I followed after. There was no reason for me to seek him out and make myself miserable.
More importantly, if I had any choice in the matter, I never wanted to see him again. That was obviously impossible, so all I could do was avoid him whenever I could.
Yet only a few days after Consort Shu came to complain to me, something happened.
It began when she brought a piece of red Mohe glass to the Imperial Workshops and had it fashioned into a hairpin. As luck would have it, Concubine Zhen saw it while visiting the Imperial Workshops to select jewelry and took an immediate liking to it. The chief steward explained that Consort Shu had personally supplied the Mohe glass used to make it, but Concubine Zhen merely smiled and said, “It’s only a hairpin, and I simply adore it. I’m sure Elder Sister wouldn’t begrudge me such a small thing.”
Concubine Zhen might have held a lower rank, but no woman in the harem had ever enjoyed the emperor’s exclusive favor for an entire month. The chief steward of the Imperial Workshops therefore made no attempt to stop her. Instead, he used Consort Shu’s possession to do Concubine Zhen an easy favor.
Naturally, Consort Shu refused to swallow that insult. She might have been impulsive, but she was not unreasonable. She took her attendants to Concubine Zhen’s palace simply to ask for the hairpin back. Unfortunately, Li Yi happened to be dining there at the time.
When news of the commotion reached Li Yi, he frowned impatiently and said to Consort Shu, “It’s only a hairpin. You’re the mistress of your own palace. Is it really worth quibbling over such a trifle with a mere concubine?” He looked Consort Shu up and down before adding, “Besides, red Mohe glass is fiery and brilliant, while your features are rather plain. You can’t carry such a vivid color. Wearing it would only make you a laughingstock, so it hardly matters that Concubine Zhen took it.”
I heard Concubine Zhen had originally been kneeling before Consort Shu, humbly apologizing. But after hearing Li Yi say that, she naturally understood whose side he was on.
Still kneeling, she looked up and offered Consort Shu a soft, ingratiating apology, feigning wounded innocence all the while. Yet her smile was bright as she mocked her. “It was wrong of me to take Elder Sister’s possession. However, I didn’t know it was yours, so surely I can’t be blamed. And since The Emperor himself has said it looks better on me, I can only ask Elder Sister to graciously part with it.”
Concubine Zhen had only recently entered the palace and had yet to grasp Consort Shu’s temperament. Any other concubine would have swallowed the humiliation in front of The Emperor, no matter how bitter it tasted. She might even have forced a smile and flattered Concubine Zhen, saying the hairpin did indeed suit her and made her look like a peerless beauty.
Unfortunately for her, Consort Shu had never been one to endure an insult. Concubine Zhen stood before her and smilingly delivered that blatant provocation, while The Emperor sat behind her without so much as lifting his eyes. Clearly, he had no intention of intervening.
Consort Shu had initially been waiting for Li Yi to pass judgment, but when she saw that, she understood everything. Her heart went cold. Disappointment flashed across her face as she withdrew her gaze, then gave a frigid laugh. She strode forward and seized Concubine Zhen’s jaw in a vicious grip. Amid the startled cries of everyone present, she yanked the hairpin from Concubine Zhen’s hair and hurled it to the floor, determined to destroy it rather than let anyone else have it.
Then she snarled, “What belongs to me is mine. If you enjoy stealing, you’d better first see whether I’m willing to let you steal it.”
The precious red Mohe jade shattered the instant it struck the floor, sending tiny fragments flying in every direction. One shard even struck Li Yi’s hand, leaving a small cut.
Concubine Zhen went white with fright and nearly collapsed. Li Yi flew into a rage, but Consort Shu straightened her back and met his eyes without a trace of remorse. With her chin raised like a martyr prepared to die, she declared, “This is simply the sort of person I am. If The Emperor finds me intolerable, then grant me a length of white silk and be done with it.”
Of course, Li Yi did no such thing. Years ago, while the Late Emperor lay ill, the Third Prince had suddenly launched a rebellion. Consort Shu’s father and brothers had all sacrificed their lives protecting Li Yi during the Jingwu Gate Incident. He owed her family an enormous debt. If he punished Consort Shu over Concubine Zhen, the women of the harem would be the least of his troubles. The censors at court alone could drown him in spit.
Besides, Concubine Zhen had provoked her first and was the one at fault.
In the end, he docked Consort Shu’s stipend for three months and ordered her to kneel before the Buddha in the Buddhist chapel for seven consecutive days to calm her mind and reflect.
When it happened, I had been suffering from a cold for an entire month without recovering. My attendants did not want to burden me with the matter, so by the time I found out, Consort Shu had already spent three days kneeling in the chapel.
She had never endured such a stifling humiliation before. By the third day, her pent-up fury had made her gravely ill.
As soon as I learned of it, I went to see her.
Even after she fell ill, Li Yi did not rescind her punishment and still required her to kneel every day. When I arrived at the Buddhist chapel, she was kneeling before the Buddha. Her chief palace maid, Dujuan, stood beside her holding a bowl of medicine, her eyes red with anxiety as she urged Consort Shu to drink it.
Consort Shu’s voice was weak, but her words remained as cutting as ever. “I won’t drink it. It would be better if I died. Then they would finally have what they want.”
Those words bordered on treason. Dujuan’s face went deathly pale. I happened to enter just in time to hear them, and the moment Dujuan saw me, her expression eased as though salvation had finally arrived.
I held out my hand. Understanding at once, Dujuan passed me the bowl of medicine and withdrew. I stirred it with the spoon, then stood behind Consort Shu and said calmly, “All you’re doing is hurting those who care about you and delighting your enemies. Song Jingying, after all these years, you still haven’t improved in the slightest. You can still do something this foolish.”
Consort Shu stiffened, then turned to look at me. Her face was pale. She had clearly been genuinely heartsick these past few days and had lost a shocking amount of weight, though she kept forcing herself to look as if she did not care.
I lowered my eyes and looked at her, still holding the bowl of medicine.
Her lips trembled faintly. As she gazed at me, she looked as aggrieved as Song Jingying had when she first entered the Eastern Palace-blunt and brash, baring her claws only to hide how frightened she truly was.
She looked so full of grievances that I expected her to pour out her troubles and demand justice. Yet she held herself back again and again. In the end, fighting desperately against her tears, she merely said, “I wasn’t going to wear that hairpin myself. Pingyang’s birthday is in two days. I meant to give it to her.”
“She’s still too young to use it, but… but you know her birth mother was convicted of a crime and fell out of The Emperor’s favor. I… I only wanted to start putting aside a little dowry for her in advance…”
I sighed, crouched down, and offered her the medicine. “I know. Drink this first.”
At last, she accepted the bowl. Her eyes reddened, and a large tear slipped soundlessly down her cheek and fell into the medicine.
It was probably the first time she had cried since her red Mohe jade hairpin was taken, and since Li Yi had confined her and sentenced her to kneel in worship.
Consort Shu had always been proud and strong-willed. I had known what sort of person she was from the day she married into the Eastern Palace. In all these years, I had only ever seen her cry three times.