In the royal palace, the chief steward wielded enormous power!
After all, every chief steward had not only possessed formidable personal strength, but had also spent years at the sovereign's side.
Ordinary secondary consorts treated the chief steward with the utmost respect, not daring to offend him. Even the principal consort had to be courteous when she saw him.
Xi Zhaoqu had just succeeded Hong San. He needed to establish his authority, and he also needed to curry favor with the sovereign!
"Eunuch Xi, is it your place to speak here?"
Liu Ling'er slowly sat up and glanced at Xi Zhaoqu expressionlessly. "You don't seem to understand how to be a good dog of a servant."
"Consort Liu, Eunuch Xi is now the chief steward. You ought to think carefully before you rebuke him!"
Lin Changqing sat down casually on the edge of the bed and offered the reminder in a mild tone.
Xi Zhaoqu proudly lifted his chin, thinking, Weren't you a servant before? You've only been a secondary consort for a few days, and you already dare to act like a master?
He could only keep those words to himself. In front of the sovereign, he didn't dare say them aloud.
"He's a far cry from Hong San."
Leaning against the headboard, Liu Ling'er gave her assessment with some dissatisfaction.
Xi Zhaoqu's face darkened again, and a fierce, cold light flashed in his eyes.
"Chief Steward Xi, you may leave us."
Lin Changqing waved a hand at Xi Zhaoqu.
"As you command!"
Xi Zhaoqu left the bedroom with two palace maids from the Heartwarming Pavilion, closing the door from outside.
"Thank you for coming to see me, Your Majesty."
Liu Ling'er clasped her hands and gave them a little shake.
"You know I didn't come to see you. I came to see the child."
Lin Changqing spoke calmly.
"The child is doing well."
"I can tell you seem quite dissatisfied with me."
"I wouldn't dare!"
"You should have used the proper form of address for a consort. It seems you haven't even learned the rules of the palace!"
"The sovereign has never truly acknowledged me. How would I dare address myself as his consort?"
"There, I knew you harbored resentment toward me!"
"I've been pregnant for more than two hundred days. Not only have you never come to see me, Your Majesty, you even punished me by sending me to the Palace of Reflection. It's only natural that I feel a little resentful."
Liu Ling'er's state of mind was very different from before. Even facing the sovereign, she could remain completely at ease.
"You really shouldn't feel resentful, and you have no right to, either."
Lin Changqing sneered. "Others don't know and say you became pregnant because I lost my virtue while drunk. But you know the truth perfectly well."
"I don't know what you mean, Your Majesty!"
Ripples spread across the tranquil sea of Liu Ling'er's heart, and her gaze began to waver as she met Lin Changqing's eyes.
Clearly, she felt a tiny bit guilty.
"That night, Su Song spared no expense and brought out a jar of God-Intoxicating Brew."
"You may never even have heard of the God-Intoxicating Brew. It's a wine that can intoxicate even God Realm experts!"
"But I only had a few cups."
"I naturally knew exactly what Su Song had in mind. He simply wanted to get me drunk so I would spend a night of passion with Consort Su!"
"Su Song and his daughter, Consort Su, are both clever people. They knew I was deliberately keeping Consort Su from getting pregnant. That's not difficult for someone in the Martial Emperor Realm!"
"That's why Su Song was so enthusiastic and kept urging me to drink that night!"
"After we finished drinking and Su Song left, I went to the Fragrance Palace. After all, I'd drunk his divine brew, so I had to finish the act!"
"Surely you haven't forgotten what Consort Su had you do at the Fragrance Palace?"
Lin Changqing paused there.
Hearing this, Lin Heng's curiosity soared!
What happened next? Hurry up and tell me!
"I remember. Consort Su told me to bring Your Majesty the sobering soup she had prepared beforehand."
Liu Ling'er gave only a brief reply.
Lin Changqing continued, "To keep up the act, she deliberately said she was going to bathe first. In truth, she was waiting for my mind to grow hazy. And there was something wrong with that bowl of sobering soup!"
"I only found out later that Illusory Soul Powder had been slipped into the soup!"
"A few cups of God-Intoxicating Brew weren't enough to muddle my mind, but with the Illusory Soul Powder on top of that, I really couldn't resist it!"
"You also knew there was something wrong with that soup. In fact, you were the one who put the Illusory Soul Powder into it!"
Liu Ling'er's expression changed considerably.
She couldn't help interjecting, "I did put the Illusory Soul Powder in the sobering soup, but I didn't know what it was at the time. I was only following Consort Su's orders!"
"That's right, you probably didn't know. Consort Su couldn't possibly have told you everything."
Lin Changqing smiled. "But Consort Su also instructed you to leave immediately after serving the soup, and you didn't listen to her."
"Do you mean that I deliberately stayed a while longer, waiting for Your Majesty's mind to grow muddled so you would mistake me for Consort Su?"
Liu Ling'er asked with a frown.
"Wasn't that what happened?"
Lin Changqing countered, then added, "You were only a maid Consort Su had brought into the palace, a person of lowly status. That was a once-in-a-thousand-years chance to ascend to heaven in a single step. Anyone would have been tempted, wouldn't they?"
"Besides, Consort Su didn't treat you well ordinarily. You had reason to betray her, and you should have wanted revenge by competing with her for my favor!"
Lin Heng was immensely curious, his heart itching unbearably. He badly wanted to know the truth.
The story sounds pretty exciting!
"Your Majesty, I admit I did have such thoughts at the time, but I also knew the consequences would be extremely serious. So I stayed for less than fifty breaths longer before deciding to leave."
Liu Ling'er's expression returned to normal. "Your Majesty hadn't finished the bowl of sobering soup then. It wasn't too late for me to leave, but you suddenly grabbed hold of me."
"Even if it wasn't too late to leave, you still disobeyed Consort Su's instructions."
Lin Changqing went on, "Since you're willing to admit you did harbor improper thoughts, I might as well tell you plainly: I did it on purpose that night."
"Oh?"
Liu Ling'er was taken aback.
"I don't like Consort Su, and I don't like Su Song either. That father and daughter have far too strong a desire for control and power!"
Lin Changqing spoke frankly. "Even if they meant no harm, they shouldn't have schemed against me, their sovereign, like that!"
"Consort Su relies on her father and dares to do anything!"
"Su Song relies on the glory of the Su Clan's ancestors and his authority as commander-in-chief of the Demon-Subduing Army. He's just as outrageously bold!"
"They won't behave themselves, so Consort Su can't become pregnant with my flesh and blood!"
"That's also why I deliberately pulled you back that night and spent a night of spring breeze with you!"
"Of course, I never thought about whether you would become pregnant. When I later heard you were with child and saw the utter fury on Consort Su's face, I can't tell you how delighted I was!"
"So I immediately made you a secondary consort, just to give her and her father a thorough disgust!"
The corners of Liu Ling'er's mouth twitched several times.
She could tell that she meant nothing at all to the sovereign; she was merely a tool to him!
Lin Heng naturally felt indignant on his mother's behalf and thought Lin Changqing had gone too far.
Even if he was only telling the truth, if the truth hurt too much, it was better left unsaid.
"Your Majesty is so wise. Surely you must also know who was behind the attempts to poison and assassinate me?"
Liu Ling'er asked.
"I do."
Lin Changqing nodded.
"Then why hasn't Your Majesty used that as grounds to bring them to account?"
Liu Ling'er pressed.