Yun Yang helped Wen Yunmian rise and wash.
The question she had puzzled over all night finally spilled out. "My lady, last night you wouldn't let me stop the guard from being let in. How did you predict so precisely that His Majesty would come here, and arrive just in time to save you? I truly cannot understand it."
Wen Yunmian gazed at herself in the bronze mirror. "Because His Majesty once loved a commoner woman, and that woman died saving him. Yesterday was the anniversary of her death."
From what she knew of Jun Chenyu in her previous life, he was deeply guarded and never allowed himself to get drunk, except on the anniversary of that woman's death.
Though the noble consort was his most cherished favorite, that woman was his hidden wound. Wen Yunmian had only gradually learned this after spending half a lifetime at Jun Chenyu's side.
And as it happened, she bore some resemblance to that commoner woman.
So she had been certain Jun Chenyu would come.
Last night's performance had also destroyed any possibility of Wen Leyan seeking Consort Shu's patronage again.
They had sprung from the same root. If Wen Leyan grew too close to Consort Shu, she would inevitably become a blade in her hand. Who knew when her mistakes and stupidity might implicate everyone in the Marquis's Residence?
Her road to the clouds required a flourishing family and the support of court officials as her backing. How could she let that fool Wen Leyan destroy it?
Meanwhile, Wen Leyan, who had been confined in the Palace of Prolonged Happiness all night, was secretly carried back to her Rose Pavilion in the Palace of Auspicious Blessing at first light.
Consort Xian presided over her palace. As soon as Wen Leyan was brought back, Consort Xian heard the news and gave a soft laugh.
"Both belong to the Wen Family, yet one is exceptionally clever while the other is foolish and useless. What a lamentable contrast. Still, I do admire that clever Noble Lady Yun."
Her maid said, "Your Highness stirred up the conflict between the noble consort and the Wen sisters, prompting the noble consort to strike at Noble Lady Yun. You meant for both sides to suffer, but His Majesty only punished Consort Chun."
Consort Xian smiled. "There's no hurry."
Crash! The sound of shattering porcelain rang out from the Rose Pavilion in the eastern side hall. Passing outside its doors, Consort Xian merely curled her lips in a cold smile.
The maid beside her, however, could not bear it. "This Joyous Promise hasn't even served His Majesty in bed, yet she has quite a temper. I've heard her smashing things in her room more than once."
Consort Xian raised an eyebrow. "Let her."
Wen Leyan sat in her room, looking at her punctured, bruised fingers as she wept and raged. Distressed, Nanny Hong hurried to apply medicine.
She could not understand it. She had seized the advantage of rebirth and knew everything about the Peony Pavilion, which was how she had successfully planted the guard there. It should have been enough to doom Wen Yunmian, so why had everything suddenly changed?
"Consort Chun must hate me to death now. Once her confinement ends, who knows how she'll take revenge on me?" Wen Leyan wanted to cry but had no tears left. The stabbing pain beneath her fingernails only deepened her misery.
Nanny Hong sighed. "Consort Chun must believe you and Noble Lady Yun did this deliberately. If you ask me, my lady, why put yourself through this? Fortunately, last night's affair did not expose your involvement."
Wen Leyan said with reddened eyes, "Do you think I'm really that stupid? Last night, Consort Chun brought people to search the palace. If she had named me, that would have proved she knew I had arranged for the guard to be there and had joined forces with me to harm Wen Yunmian."
"If she didn't name me, that would instead show she had merely been chasing shadows when she came to search for him. I had covered every possibility. Whether Wen Yunmian had committed adultery or not, once His Majesty heard the news, he would surely loathe her. How could a ruler's woman bear a tainted name? But I never imagined His Majesty would actually be in the Peony Pavilion!"
Ming Cui carefully applied medicine to the wounds beneath Wen Leyan's fingernails. But as Wen Leyan grew increasingly agitated while speaking, a moment's inattention caused Ming Cui to jab a sore spot.
Already furious, Wen Leyan raised her hand and slapped Ming Cui. "Idiot! Can't you be more careful?"
After receiving the slap, Ming Cui dared not say anything. She could only lower her head in grievance before Nanny Hong sent her out.
Wen Leyan's chest heaved. "What am I supposed to do now? I'm merely a lowly Promise. Not only can I not see His Majesty, but the noble consort also hates me to death now. She certainly won't help me again."
Nanny Hong's expression grew grave. "My lady, perhaps we would be better off begging Lady Yun for help."
Wen Leyan looked as though she had heard some fantastical tale. "You want me to beg Wen Yunmian? Wen Yunmian herself is living in unbearable misery. Does she have the ability to help me?"
Nanny Hong choked on her words. Unbearable misery? Does my lady not know that the Peony Pavilion has nearly been filled with His Majesty's gifts these past few days...?
"My lady, today I specifically sent someone to inquire at the Peony Pavilion. They said His Majesty was not only there last night, but stayed the night as well. I heard..."
Wen Leyan's eyes widened. "Heard what?"
"I heard the Peony Pavilion called for water six times during the night."
"What did you say?!"
Wen Leyan sprang to her feet, her face deathly pale. "No, that's impossible. How could His Majesty truly have bedded her?"
In their previous life, the noble consort had hated Wen Yunmian, while His Majesty turned a deaf ear and never once bedded her. He had treated her, the most beautiful woman in the palace, as nothing more than the noble consort's plaything. Even when she died, she had never known what it felt like to be a woman!
How could Wen Yunmian...
Wasn't the noble consort the one His Majesty cared about most? Didn't he always refuse to stay overnight in his consorts' palaces, having them carried to Chanyang Palace and sent back once it was over?
Why had things changed in this reborn life?
Wen Leyan felt the world spin around her, but she also glimpsed a sliver of hope. Grabbing Nanny Hong's hand, she said, "I must see the noble consort. She must hate Wen Yunmian to death now. As long as I tell her Wen Yunmian cannot conceive, she'll surely forgive me and entrust me with important tasks."
She was about to run out when she came face-to-face with Wen Yunmian entering.
Wen Yunmian wore a moonlight-colored ruqun. Her luminous, snow-white skin seemed to bathe her in a soft glow, making her features all the more beautiful and vivid. "Where are you going?"
Nanny Hong hurriedly curtsied. "Greetings, Noble Lady Yun."
She wanted to pull Wen Leyan into a show of submission as well, but Wen Leyan's eyes filled with resentment and jealousy at the sight of Wen Yunmian's current appearance. "Wen Yunmian, did His Majesty bed you last night? How could His Majesty possibly bed you?"
Wen Yunmian stared coldly at Wen Leyan's disheveled hair and bloodied hands. Under Wen Leyan's furious gaze, she raised her hand and slapped her across the face.
Caught completely off guard, Wen Leyan was sent sprawling. She screamed as she fell to the floor, and Nanny Hong hurried over in fright to help her up. "My lady!"
"You dare hit me?!" Wen Leyan's eyes were bloodshot.
Wen Yunmian's gaze turned fierce. "Have you finished making a scene? If not, I don't mind rewarding you with another slap!"
"You!"
Wen Yunmian signaled for Yun Yang to close the door, then walked straight past Wen Leyan and sat in the seat of honor. "Wen Leyan, do you have a brain at all?"
She was, after all, Wen Leyan's elder sister. Though Wen Yunmian's mother had previously given birth to an eldest daughter, that child had unfortunately died young. Wen Yunmian was now the eldest legitimate daughter of the Marquis's Residence.
Her authority as the eldest sister filled Wen Leyan with an inexplicable dread.
"You were the mastermind behind last night's affair. Did you ever consider what would have happened if I hadn't taken precautions, and people had truly believed I was committing adultery with a guard?"
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