Disappointment

At dusk, Qiukui slipped out of the Palace of Prolonged Happiness and secretly returned to the Peony Pavilion.

Through eavesdropping, the people at the Palace of Prolonged Happiness learned that Wen Yunmian had taken Qiukui to Fengyi Palace to see the Empress.

Upon hearing that the matter involved Consort Shu, the Empress immediately summoned her.

Consort Shu arrived half an hour late.

After Zhang Fuhai hurried over, he secretly nodded to Consort Shu. Only then did she turn toward the Empress.

"May I ask what urgent matter Your Majesty has summoned me here for?"

As she spoke, Consort Shu swept her cold, beautiful gaze over Wen Yunmian and raised her brows in provocation.

Wen Yunmian ignored her.

The Empress glanced at Qiukui, who was kneeling on the floor, then looked coldly at Consort Shu. "Noble Lady Yan brought Qiukui here just now. She said she happened to discover Qiukui behaving suspiciously in her residence, and only after detaining and questioning her did she learn that you had sent her. Is this true?"

Consort Shu sneered and raised a hand to touch her magnificent, cold Jadeite Crown. "To think that while I was quietly staying in the Palace of Prolonged Happiness, such slander should land on my head. Noble Lady Yan, you say I ordered Qiukui to harm you. Do you have any proof?"

Wen Yunmian bent her knees in a curtsy. "Your Majesty, it would be best to let Qiukui explain the circumstances herself."

Although the Empress had not had much contact with Wen Yunmian, she knew she was not an impulsive person. This matter surely had far-reaching implications.

Consort Shu lazily smoothed the hair at her temple. "His Majesty happens to be staying at Fengyi Palace tonight. Why not invite him here to judge the matter?"

The Empress gave Suo Chun a meaningful look. "Go and invite His Majesty here first."

Suo Chun acknowledged the order and hurried toward the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Meanwhile, inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Jun Chenyu was looking at the screen beside him, embroidered with Magnificent Rivers and Mountains. Deep disappointment filled his cold eyes.

The Hidden Guards had just reported that their investigation into the Peach Blossom Song incident in the palace had yielded results.

He had never expected that Consort Shu truly was the one pulling the strings.

Once upon a time, Consort Shu had been innocent and kind, lively and radiant. He had never imagined that she, too, would become so ruthless in this palace, even going so far as to use his body to harm the other consorts.

Eunuch Lu entered to make a report and found Jun Chenyu standing before the screen in a daze.

Knowing that Consort Shu had embroidered it when she first entered the palace, he offered a flattering remark. "Your Majesty and Her Highness were childhood sweethearts. Back then, she spent more than half a year embroidering this Magnificent Rivers and Mountains for you. Your Majesty has treasured it in the Hall of Supreme Harmony ever since. In the blink of an eye, five or six years have passed."

Jun Chenyu withdrew his gaze. "But looking at this embroidery now no longer feels the way it did back then."

Eunuch Lu froze. He was exceptionally quick-witted. For His Majesty to say such a thing, could it mean his feelings toward Consort Shu...

Only then did he adopt a serious expression. "Your Majesty, Suo Chun from Fengyi Palace has arrived."

"What is she here for?"

Eunuch Lu faithfully relayed what Suo Chun had reported to Jun Chenyu.

Learning that another disturbance had arisen in the harem, Jun Chenyu set down the memorial in his hand, a trace of darkness clouding his face. "You say this involves Noble Lady Yan and Consort Shu?"

Suo Chun nodded respectfully. "Yes."

Jun Chenyu rubbed his prominent brow ridge, then rose and headed to Fengyi Palace.

When Jun Chenyu arrived, the Empress and the others all paid their respects. Kneeling to one side, Wen Yunmian caught the flash of triumph in Consort Shu's beautiful eyes.

"What happened? Tell me so I may hear it as well." Jun Chenyu sat down, his deep, phoenix-shaped eyes shadowed beneath his prominent brows.

In the shifting light, the sharpness in his eyes seemed all the more bone-chilling.

Consort Shu spoke first, her tone half-coquettish. "Your Majesty, you have no idea. Noble Lady Yan brought someone from her residence here and accused me of bribing that servant to harm her. Perhaps Your Majesty has spoiled Noble Lady Yan until she no longer fears heaven or law, for her to dare splash such filthy water over me."

Wen Yunmian lowered her eyes meekly, feeling Jun Chenyu's gaze fall on her.

"Noble Lady Yan, is this true? You say Consort Shu tried to harm you. What did she do?"

Before Wen Yunmian could speak, Consort Shu interrupted again. "Your Majesty, since Qiukui is the witness, why not let her speak? Let us hear what crime against heaven and reason I supposedly committed."

Consort Shu curled her lips carelessly, as though she were certain of what Qiukui would say.

Wen Yunmian glanced at Qiukui.

Looking at Qiukui trembling on the floor, Jun Chenyu merely said coldly, "Say what you know."

Qiukui raised her pale face. "Your Majesty, I..."

"Consort Shu sent me to serve Noble Lady Yan, but my true purpose was to keep watch over the Peony Pavilion."

"When Your Majesty was affected by Peach Blossom Song last time, I was also the one who placed the pill among the green chrysanthemums. But someone from the Peony Pavilion discovered it, so the attempt failed."

"And I was the one who told Consort Shu about the infertility last time!"

Jun Chenyu's gaze grew fathomless as he looked coldly at Consort Shu.

Consort Shu's heart sank at once. Her mouth fell open, then she recovered from her shock and sprang to her feet. "You are spouting nonsense! When did I ever order you to slander and frame Noble Lady Yan?"

Zhang Fuhai and Luyue were both dumbfounded. Before coming here, they had clearly agreed that Qiukui would accuse Noble Lady Yan. Why had she changed her story at this critical moment?

"Slandering a consort is a grave crime," Jun Chenyu said with a lingering chill.

Qiukui pressed her forehead to the floor and took the hairpin from her sleeve, ready to face death without flinching. "Your Majesty, I am not lying. This is the hairpin Consort Shu rewarded me with when she bribed me!"

Eunuch Lu hurriedly brought the hairpin to Jun Chenyu.

Holding it in his hand, Jun Chenyu swept his cold Phoenix Eyes toward Consort Shu. "Isn't this the hairpin you stopped wanting to wear last year?"

Consort Shu panicked completely, her mind going blank. She hastily knelt before the emperor. "Your Majesty, I have been wronged. I truly have been wronged! Qiukui stole this hairpin herself. I did not give it to her."

No sooner had she finished speaking than the hairpin was flung at her feet. "If you had not intended to use her, how could a mere menial palace maid have entered your chambers and stolen your hairpin?"

Consort Shu's face turned ashen. Having no idea how to defend herself, she could only look at Jun Chenyu with reddened eyes.

Jun Chenyu already knew the whole truth of the matter. He stood up indifferently. "Go back to your Palace of Prolonged Happiness and stay there. I do not want to see you again!"

The Empress hurriedly asked, "Your Majesty, how should Qiukui be dealt with?"

"There is no need to keep a servant who betrays her mistress. Give her fifty strokes of the rod and throw her out of the palace."

Consort Shu wanted to explain through her tears, but Jun Chenyu had already walked past her.

"Your Majesty..." The emperor had never said he did not want to see her again. Consort Shu's heart felt as though it were being carved apart by knives.

Wen Yunmian sat in silence. Jun Chenyu had not spared her a single glance before leaving.

The pain of punishing the woman he loved had likely turned into displeasure and fallen upon her instead.

But there was no hurry. Soon, that displeasure would turn into guilt toward her.

The Empress instructed the palace maids, "Take Consort Shu away."

After the heartbroken Consort Shu was led away, the weary Empress offered Wen Yunmian a few words of comfort, then dismissed her.

Once they were outside, Yun Fei said with a mournful face, "My lady, all our efforts were wasted. His Majesty only confined Consort Shu to her palace. That hardly counts as punishment."

Wen Yunmian's gaze was indifferent. "If she received no punishment, wouldn't all my scheming have been wasted? Just wait. By tomorrow at the latest, her punishment will come."