Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Consort Liu looked rather surprised.
“Are you saying the Emperor’s real white moonlight is someone else?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she now?”
“Dead,” I said softly. “She died when she was fifteen.”
A mournful hush settled over the hall. Even the lively Consort Liu fell silent for a while.
“I suppose that makes sense.” She thought it over. “If his real white moonlight hadn’t died, then by rights, the position of Empress should have been hers.”
Only after she said it did she realize something was wrong, and she hurriedly slapped her own mouth.
“No offense, no offense…”
I waved a hand, indicating that it was fine.
“What you said is the truth. I, Lu Lan, am nothing more than a counterfeit.”
“But…” I sighed softly. “Even if that young woman hadn’t died at fifteen, she and the Emperor were destined never to be together.”
“Who was she?”
No sooner had Consort Liu asked than a commotion broke out beyond the hall.
My personal maidservant Lianzhi came running in, flustered. “Your Majesty, Noble Consort Lin says she lost the Golden Buyao Hairpin bestowed on her by the Emperor, and she insists on searching our palace. I couldn’t stop her no matter what I tried…”
“A Noble Consort dares barge into the Empress’s palace?!” Consort Liu flared up the moment she heard it. “Even webnovels wouldn’t dare write something this outrageous!”
This was not the time to argue over pride. I rose at once and took Lianzhi with me to meet them at the palace doors. At the same time, I instructed a trusted young eunuch to take Consort Liu and hide her in the side hall.
For now, Noble Consort Lin could not be allowed to discover Consort Liu’s situation.
Consort Liu had only just left when Noble Consort Lin swept in like a gust of wind, followed by a clamoring crowd of more than a dozen palace maids and eunuchs.
In the entire inner palace, there was no other consort who dared put on such an overbearing display.
“Noble Consort Lin, you have trespassed into Fengyi Palace in the middle of the night. What is the meaning of this?” I asked, my face dark.
“Oh my, didn’t I already explain it to that little girl? What, is she too stupid to relay even such a simple sentence properly, or has Elder Sister gone senile before her time and forgotten it in the blink of an eye?”
Noble Consort Lin smiled as she adjusted the hair by her temple.
“Don’t blame me for being anxious. This Golden Buyao Hairpin was bestowed on me by the Emperor, and there is only one of its kind in the world. If it disappears for no reason, the Emperor will surely be angry. I’m merely worried that the Emperor might damage his precious imperial health in his anger.”
At the side, Lianzhi rebuked her, “Before Her Majesty the Empress, Noble Consort Lin should refer to herself as ‘this concubine.’ Yet now every other word from your mouth is ‘I.’ Do you have any respect for rank and order at all?”
Noble Consort Lin burst into laughter.
“Rank and order? I only know one thing. In this palace, whoever has the Emperor’s favor is above others. Whoever loses His Majesty’s heart is beneath them.”
She looked around Fengyi Palace, and the more she looked, the wider her smile grew. “It is rather deserted in here. But of course, the Emperor hasn’t visited for nearly half a month.”
“Her Majesty the Empress is already old. As for serving the Emperor, she can leave that to us younger women.”
I did not get angry. Noble Consort Lin was right. I was already twenty-eight.
The new girls selected into the palace were only seventeen or eighteen. Compared with them, I was indeed old.
By the dim candlelight, I studied Noble Consort Lin.
She was clever. She wore a water-blue palace gown, a color that suited her well. Together with the pearl ornaments covering her hair, it made her face shine like a luminous pearl in the night.
She was imitating me. On ordinary days, the color I wore most often was water blue.
And that young girl who had truly loved wearing water-blue gauze dresses had been forever left behind in the year she turned fifteen.
The memories of her remained in the Emperor’s mind. I truly had grown old. When these young consorts wore water blue, they looked more like her than I did.
“If Younger Sister is looking for your Golden Buyao Hairpin, why come to my palace?”
“Mm, it was still there when I came to pay my respects. Later, it was gone. I must have dropped it here.”
I stood where I was in silence.
The Golden Buyao Hairpin was only an excuse. What Noble Consort Lin truly wanted was to put me in my place.
If a consort could barge into the Empress’s palace at night without suffering any punishment, then once the news spread, no one would ever take me, the Empress, seriously again.
And at present, Noble Consort Lin was enjoying the height of the Emperor’s favor.
She was betting that I would not dare punish her.
After a moment of silence, I revealed a gentle smile. “Then Noble Consort Lin should search carefully.”
Noble Consort Lin smiled as well. She believed I had yielded because I had no other choice. So after wandering around the hall halfheartedly, she said flatly, “It doesn’t seem to be here. Let’s go.”
“Wait,” I said coldly.
Noble Consort Lin stopped, somewhat surprised as she turned back.
“Lin, for trespassing into Fengyi Palace, you are to receive thirty strokes of the rod.”
“Lu Lan, you wouldn’t dare!”
“What would I not dare?!”
With a wave of my hand, the eunuchs and guards rushed forward, scattering Noble Consort Lin’s people.
Two young eunuchs seized Noble Consort Lin, one on each side. She glared at me, her eyes almost dripping blood.
“Strike!”
Noble Consort Lin was pushed into the center of the hall and forced to lie facedown.
At first, she was still wailing at the top of her lungs.
Later, her cries gradually weakened.
In truth, I had signaled to the young eunuch to use only thirty percent of his strength. If he had truly beaten her, Noble Consort Lin would have been reduced to a bloody mess. At the force he was using now, it was just enough to make her hurt without damaging her bones or muscles.
When the thirty strokes were finished, Noble Consort Lin rose with the support of her palace maids. She still had plenty of strength left in her voice as she pointed at me and cursed, “Lu Lan, you vicious woman!”
The next moment, the cry of “The Emperor has arrived!” rang out sharply from outside the hall.
Noble Consort Lin’s expression changed faster than flipping a page. In an instant, she put away her furious abuse and became incomparably weak and pitiful.
She collapsed into her maid’s arms, eyes shut, her body trembling like a sieve, looking as though the pain was more than she could bear.
A figure in bright imperial yellow entered the hall. I performed a proper salute. “This consort greets the Emperor.”
The Emperor looked toward Noble Consort Lin, who was cowering off to the side, and frowned.
“Empress, you’ve gone a little too far this time.”
“Noble Consort Lin is young and ignorant, and she has not been in the palace long. It’s only natural that she isn’t familiar with the rules. Why make things so difficult for her?”
The Emperor glanced at the water-blue gown Noble Consort Lin was wearing, then turned and ordered the eunuch, “Send Noble Consort Lin to my palace. I will personally see that she takes her medicine.”
“Emperor-”
Noble Consort Lin knew she had won. Seizing the opportunity, she threw herself into the Emperor’s arms, leaned against his shoulder, and whimpered, “I hurt so much. It hurts so much I could die…”
Noble Consort Lin sobbed and acted spoiled in the Emperor’s arms, while I knelt off to the side with my head lowered.
No matter who looked at the scene, they would think I had lost.
And yet, a faint smile hung at the corner of my lips.
I was waiting.
Sure enough, amid Noble Consort Lin’s sobs, the Emperor’s expression gradually cooled.
With an indifferent look, he pulled away from Noble Consort Lin. Noble Consort Lin froze, then staggered back a few steps.
“You can walk and move. It seems the beating wasn’t that severe after all.” The Emperor rubbed his brow. “You were being insensible. It was only right for the Empress to discipline you. Go back to your own palace and rest.”
Noble Consort Lin did not understand why the Emperor had suddenly grown cold. Still unwilling to give up, she reached for his sleeve and clung to him like taffy.
“Emperor…”
This time, the Emperor was genuinely somewhat impatient. He simply flung off Noble Consort Lin’s hand and left with his attendants.
Noble Consort Lin was both furious and frantic, and with the pain from her injuries added on top, she truly fainted this time.
The servants hurriedly carried her back in a flurry.
After everyone had left, Consort Liu poked her head out from the shadows.
“Good heavens, what a commotion.”
Consort Liu slipped out and came to my side.
“But seriously, why did the Emperor’s attitude suddenly change just now?”
I said nothing. I picked up my teacup and moistened my dry throat.
Consort Liu studied my expression.
“You predicted this?”
“Mm.”
I set down the teacup and nodded lightly.
“There is only one reason the Emperor dotes on Noble Consort Lin: she resembles that girl very much.”
“And when Noble Consort Lin is injured, the Emperor is reminded of how that girl looked when she was hurt, which makes his heart ache all the more.”
“My goodness. Then you still dared to beat her?”
“Because she is not that girl.”
“When that girl was injured, she would not make a sound. No matter how much it hurt, she would smile and comfort others, saying she was fine.”
Consort Liu started, then immediately realized something.
“In other words, the more Noble Consort Lin acts spoiled and cries, the more she sends the Emperor one message-I am not your unattainable first love.”
I inclined my head slightly.
“You knew the Emperor would come?”
“She brought so many people with her. While I was beating her, someone was bound to go out and report it.”
“She would definitely have the Emperor come witness this scene. She would definitely complain to the Emperor about how pitiful she was.”
Too clever by half.
She simply had not expected that every seemingly clever step she took was pushing her one step further down the road to losing favor.
After a moment of shock, Consort Liu asked me, “Who exactly is the Emperor’s unattainable first love?”
I looked out the window. A bright moon hung high in the sky, its moonlight pouring down like flowing water and spilling over the lattice window.
“Her name was Princess Mingyue.”
“Princess Mingyue…”
Consort Liu searched her memory for the name, then her eyes suddenly widened.
“Wasn’t she the princess of Qiangrong?”
“Mm.”
“Qiangrong was destroyed when the Emperor was sixteen…”
“Yes.”
I turned back and looked at Consort Liu.
“When the Emperor was sixteen, he was a hostage in Qiangrong. He worked with the Wu Dynasty army from within and without, bringing Qiangrong to complete destruction.”
“Princess Mingyue and all of her clansmen died in that battle.”
“So do you understand what I mean now?”
“Even if she had not died, there was no way they could ever have been together.”