Chapter 2
Chapter 2
A few months later, Consort An’s younger sister was married off.
Only then did Consort An finally set her mind at ease.
She came to thank me.
I dismissed the attendants.
Without warning, she dropped to her knees and performed a full kowtow.
“Sister, I will never forget that you saved my life. From now on, I belong to you. Whatever you say, I will do.”
I hurriedly helped her up.
For some reason, I felt a little touched.
In my last life, in order to become Empress, I had made enemies everywhere.
Yet when I died, the ones who came to see me off were those very enemies.
The people who understood me best were my foes.
They pleaded before the emperor, saying I would never have harmed that Fisher Girl.
“The Noble Consort may have a sharp and vicious tongue, but she is kind and generous at heart.”
“The Noble Consort may look down on everyone, but she acts openly and aboveboard.”
“The Noble Consort may flatter those above her, but she is not base.”
“The Noble Consort may fight for favor, but she would never strike from the shadows.”
“The Noble Consort…”
Enough. Stop talking. Just let me die.
The emperor hesitated.
But the Fisher Girl’s eyes brimmed with tears as she said calmly, “I cannot contend with these women of the deep palace, nor do I care to. Zhao Shen, if you cannot clear away the obstacles for me, then do not keep me confined in this palace. The world is vast. Where can I not go?”
That one line made the emperor resolve himself.
He bestowed poisoned wine upon me, then sent the rest of the consorts and concubines away to a Buddhist temple.
In that vast imperial palace, only the two of them remained, a pair for life.
Bah!
In this life, I will make sure neither of them dies well.
I helped Consort An to her feet, feeling a little awkward and a little proud.
“Well, well. So a daughter of the An Family can be bought with the smallest bit of kindness after all.”
Consort An clenched her fists in fury.
“Zhao Jiufeng, one of these days that mouth of yours will poison you to death. I thank you for the Small Four-Harmony Incense. You are my benefactor, so I will not take offense at anything you say. In any case, I will remember this debt.”
Small Four-Harmony Incense was made from lychee shells, sugarcane residue, aged tangerine peel, pear peel, and other ingredients.
Consort An increased the amount of lychee shell and turned it into a new version of Small Four-Harmony Incense.
She and her sister sewed the Small Four-Harmony Incense into sachets and wore them on their persons.
They also stuffed the fragrant powder into the beads on their hairpins, sleeves, and shoe tips, and even added lychee juice to their lip rouge.
The two of them nearly killed the emperor.
However, the emperor could not die yet.
No one in the palace was pregnant.
The emperor had been on the throne for three years, yet not a single woman in the palace had borne him a child.
I suspected the emperor was incapable.
But when I died, the Fisher Girl had clearly been pregnant.
Could it be that every consort and concubine in the palace was incapable instead?
I wanted to test it again.